Caterpillar B15: The Android smartphone for the building site There’s no doubt that smartphones are getting more robust. Both the Sony Xperia Z and the forthcoming Samsung Galaxy S4 Active boast IP57-rated resistance to dust and water intrusion which is handy if you take your phone to the beach or the pool and come over all clumsy. Drop either of them out of a third-floor window on a …
>I like those rugged devices - shame the spec is always lacking.
Yeah, but at least you now get most of the way there with high-end hardware- both the Galaxy S4 Active and Xperia Z are waterproof. Then all you need is a very sturdy case, if any are sold.
(http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/09/galaxy-s4-active-hits-uk-shops-starting-at-495-contract-free/)
Hopefully, toughness and waterproofing will become standard features for phones.
Never a truer word said.
Why do these people think that anyone working on a building site will need a bash resistant smart phone with less functions?
Stick with whatever phone you want and buy a decent case for it, Lifeproof, Otterbox or Gumdrop etc.
I work outdoors, go on site and have dropped my phone on a number of occasions, it survived.
This CAT phone is trying to solve a problem that doesn't actually exist.
Pencils and torches i can understand: both are cylindrical and will roll quite happily under the washing machine or workbench or whatever.
But tape measures? I must go through 4 or 5 a year. It might explain what the tooth fairy gets up to in the daytime, though.
I got one for my son to take on a trip - he's working at an animal rescue centre in Thailand for the summer and was setting it up yesterday. I was surprised that it's a mini, not micro or nano SIM. That said he'll get a local SIM when he's out there and doesn't need to use the one in his S3,
It does feel excellent.
Aha you are correct - I fudged my acronym - what I meant was the following.
Are both SIM slots capable of using a 3G capable connection, as usually only one of the SIM slots can be used for this purpose which enables the 3G connectivity of the device. I thought the other slot wasn't able to utilise this particular function.
I owned a Sonim (XP3300 Force) and loved it, but was dissapointed that learn through experience that the "waterproofing" was mostly superficial. For the most part the waterproofing isnt an integral part of the design, but rather some glued-on patches.
After about a year of normal handling (to and from work in a bag or pocket) and normal temperature variation the glue breaks down and the rubber begins to peel away. The "built for life" Sonim was no longer waterproof, without my knowing. To me the peeling rubber at the grips was surely just a cosmetic problem, but after a heavy rainfall I found my phone to be no longer working. It had become wet inside, and examining the peeling areas I was shocked to find that the phone wasnt in the least "waterproofed" internally.
Caveat emptor.
A bit jealous?
Am thinking about one here on the far side of the pond, ok-ish towing capability, and still comfortable enough for longer road trips ( > 4 hrs one way). Yes, mileage not too great, but something's gotta give.
Getting more and more difficult to find a car big enough for four adults, with enough head / legroom for a 6ft6-er :-(
Back on topic: the meedja here are actively marketing the S4 Active; only on AT&T, not sure if it will be released for CDMA networks (looking at you, Verizon!)
The Range Rover sport isn't that great on headroom, especially in the rear seats. The actual seat are set very high. I bump my head more in my neighbour's Sport than I do in the missus's Honda Civic.
What you need is a Toyota HiLux. Best headroom of any 4x4 out there, in my experience.
Why bother with four wheel drive, if you're not going off-road? Two wheel drive is enough to get you through some pretty rough terrain/weather*, and you'll save on petrol for the 99% of the time when you're driving on normal roads.
* 20 year old Polo vs 6" of snow, up hill. No problem.
Good point. Here in the USofA the use of 4X4 mode is often by citiy types getting to the ski areas. 4-High is definitely useful in bad weather, though you encounter the occasional knot head who ignored the advice about maximum speed. They don't understand why the vehicle smells bad now and has smoke leaking out from under it.
The existence of multiple, incompatible mobile telephony standards preventing you from moving easily from one network to another is a feature, not a bug; and all those Godless Commies who mandated GSM instead of letting The Free Market decide on a single standard for all networks will be sorry one day. Now go and get yourselves some free medical treatment and play in the gun-free streets.
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My first question is always the same: how useful is the touch screen when it rains? My admittedly "old" Nexus S can't even answer a call if there's the slightest bit of rain falling. One or two drops on the screen and you can't unlock it for love nor money.
Makes me long for a real physical button.
Also worth noting that caterpillar is among the most scummy, anti-union, anti-worker companies on the planet. Having their name on your gear may make you mighty unpopular at some job sites.
http://www.therecord.com/opinion-story/2599009-caterpillar-closing-an-attack-on-unions/
Not quite as tough as the Caterpillar phone but came out pretty well in the comparison in the c't magazine: based on an S3. I picked mine up sans SIM for € 260 because I'm looking for a phone that I feel okay about using on my bike. Certainly not as slick as the highend phones but it does the job and has a separate camera button.
"That would be lucky to get acceptable performance out of Gingerbread, but Jellybean?"
I'm finding that Jelly Bean runs just fine on machines with a dual-core 1GHz chip and 512MB of RAM. Even with half a dozen apps open in the background there's little if any noticeable hesitation in the UI.
According to http://source.android.com/compatibility/4.1/android-4.1-cdd.pdf
Device implementations MUST have at least 340MB of memory available to the kernel and userspace. The 340MB. MUST be in addition to any memory dedicated to hardware components such as radio, video, and so on that is not under the kernel's control.
Device implementations MUST have at least 350MB of non-volatile storage available for application private data.
That is, the /data partition MUST be at least 350MB.
Hmmm let me see now, some builder chap is - say - up on the 50th floor of a tower block under construction, working with some heavy duty, dangerous plant that requires his undivided attention - fellow builder chaps relying on him for their safety and he's more interested in texting his significant other about "What's for tea tonight.... hope it's chips it's chips...!" and ..... ooops there's his buddy up in flames covered in hot bitumen.... or "look out below, the good lift is on it's way down minus the brakes, complete with a payload of bricks"....
Maybe it's your local Bob the builder working on your roof, his indestructible Mobe goes off, he fumbles for it, he stumbles and oh, dear 999 anyone....?
Yeah, nice one CAT, be the HSE are loving your new product just as much as you are....
Mobile phones DO NOT belong on the building site. Most contractors I deal with here in the UK have a 100% ban on use of mobile phones anywhere except the site offices or mess cabins. Where's the need CAT??
I'm in the market for a second phone (primary is an iPhone), and I'm interested by this phone for 3 reasons:
1 - rugged means it handles travel well
2 - swappable battery. It means I just carry a spare battery and have that phone alive for longer (although the battery life of an S2 is probably OK for that too, and that has more processor/storage
3 - it seems to be capable enough to be rooted. I don't want to have a Google account.
So, this one will be on my list for evaluation. I agree it's a pity they missed the LED.
Current smartphone batteries are far too small and have typically a 1-day lifespan between charges. This happens mainly because of the quest for slimness having reached ludicrously anorexic levels.
In a 15mm thick phone, there should be room for a chunky battery. So a "typical" smartphone battery is rubbish in context. 2000mAh? in a phone this size? It should be at least twice that amount, if not more.
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