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There are always a few hidden gems at these trade shows, and one has emerged to capture our eyes and interest. It’s the CAT B15 by Caterpillar, a rugged smartphone that we wouldn’t be embarrassed to carry around. The phone, made out of silver anodized aluminum, can handle almost any harsh conditions you can expect, with military-grade protection from drops, spills and water submersion, dust, extreme weather conditions and more.
The device isn’t quite cutting edge on the inside, but are these rugged beasts ever marketed to be strong on the inside? That said, the 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 chipset, 512MB of RAM, a 4-inch WVGA display (covered by Gorilla Glass, of course) and more. The device is headed to Europe next month for £299, and we’ll be scoping it out on the show floor to see if we can get our greasy, filthy palms on it. Have a quick look above.
At first sight Motorola Photon comes to mind.
I don’t see the point of buying a rugged smartphone. I’d much rather buy a good phone and throw on a rugged case.
Some people work in construction. You know? Those people that build the freeways you drive on. How do you communicate with the person a mile down the freeway?
Those are the people who are being targeted.
It makes a difference. My father drives a truck and has a Commando. Still looks great after 18 months. He used his upgrade and got a gs3 and put an Otterbox and screen protector on it. Two weeks later he decided to return it. They refused to take it back because of too much physical damage. It had never left the case.
Rugged phones are meant to take a lot of abuse. Rugged phone cases can only handle so much, and still don’t guarantee your phone is safe.
I’ve had four iphones come in this year, alone, for replacement screens. Three were in otterbox defender cases when they were dropped. The fourth was in a life proof case. While the screens weren’t shattered, they were cracked the length or width of the screen.
That was my first though, but I’m sure this is better protected against water, drops and dirt still.
The rugged smartphone is for construction workers and tradesman so this phone is obviously aimed at them. You can’t be this ignorant and not realise who the phone is being aimed at. Come on now.
A great phone for hard workers and klutzes alike.
A Caterpillar phone… interesting. Although I’m sure it’s made by a no-name company that just licensed a deal to stamp Caterpillar’s name on it.
panasonic should be the one making this stuff with their “toughbook” line. that or casio and their g’zone.
As someone who could benefit from a ruggedized phone, this tank-outside toy-inside approach really pisses me off. The target market for ruggedized phones spends all or most of their day away from anything resembling a desk or computer. As such, they need a smart phone that can handle tasks of us would preform on a desktop or laptop.
Looks like an iphone in a otterbox.
Are you blind?
After working for that place for 7+ years, I wouldn’t accept one if it were given to me by Oberhelman himself and paid for for life!
Rugged case is not equal to Military grade.
I dig this.
That thing looks totally boss
I’m trying to convince my dad to get a smartphone and he needs a rugged one. Problem is, all these rugged phones are crap on the inside. Would it kill to get them a dual core 1GHz and 1Gb of RAM inside a rugged phone?
http://emea.catphones.com/ here you can find all Details!