Adventure Tech: Test A Smartphone Designed For Adventurers And Get Funding For Your Next Expedition

We all know that smartphones have become an almost indispensable part of our daily lives, keeping us connected to friends and family, helping us navigate through our busy schedules and providing all kinds of useful information right in the palm of our hand. But most of them aren't necessarily designed with the outdoor crowd in mind which makes carrying an expensive and fragile device with us on our adventures a bit problematic. But a company called Adaia is opening to change that by building the first smartphone specifically for the adventurer.

The device itself hasn't been shown yet, but the company's website gives us some hints about what they have in mind. The designers are looking to create a ruggedized piece of equipment that is shockproof, waterproof (down to 10 meters) and altitude proof (up to 9000 meters). They want to make it satellite-enabled so that it can work anywhere on the planet and include a single emergency button to allow for the calling of assistance at any time. On top of that, it will run the most up to date version of the Android operating system and look as good as any other smartphone on the market.

In order to achieve those loft goals, Adaia has put together a dedicated team with plenty of experience in the telecommunications field to create their dream phone for the adventurer who goes to the extreme places of our planet. They've also built an advisor board that includes the likes of extreme athlete Kevin Vallely and wingsuit pilot Jeb Corliss.

The company has also launched a new promotion on their Facebook page looking for adventurers to help test the device later this year. To that end, they are looking for the Adaia Daring Dozen to take prototype devices into the field and put them through their paces. The company might even fund a dream expedition for an adventurer too!

To be eligible, all you have to do is "Like" Adaia's Facebook page and enter their Daring Dozen contest by submitting photos via Facebook, Twitter or Instagram of your latest big adventure. Use the hashtag #ADAIADOZEN to help them find your entry. You can also submit YouTube or Vimeo clips and longer entries can be sent via email to daringdozen@adaiadevices.com. Each week, they'll select five winners to receive a base layer t-shirt and each month the'll select a big winner to send off to some exotic location to put the new smartphone to the test. Find out all of the details by clicking here.

As an outdoor adventurer and tech nerd myself, I have to say I'm very interested in seeing what Adaia has up their sleeve here. The device sounds very promising and could be a great new tool for taking into the field. Hopefully we'll get a look at it in the near future as it gets closer to becoming a real product.