At a press event in New York City on Thursday, wireless provider Verizon showed off the still-unannounced Casio G'zOne Brigade handset. Photos reveal that this is Casio's first rugged push-to-talk device to flip open vertically to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. This keyboard has four rows of keys that include a shortcut key for messaging along with a dedicated row of number keys.

Like other G'zOne handsets, the device is rated to meet the MIL-STD-810F standard for water, vibration, dust, and other environment extremes. More pedestrian features include a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and an LED flash, as well as the ability to record videos. A document viewer can read out text, picture and e-mail messages. As with other G'zOne handsets, there is a large speaker with speakerphone capability.

Verizon services such as VZ Navigator, V CAST Video, and V CAST Music with Rhapsody are available on the Brigade. A microSD memory card slot adds storage space.

While no official prices or dates are yet known, the Casio G'zOne Brigade is expected to launch soon on Verizon's network. [via MobileBurn]