The CAT S60 is more than one tough handset coming from Bullitt Mobile, as the device will pack in a helpful tool for engineers. Licensed by Caterpillar Inc., the device is the first smartphone to carry a thermal camera.
The phone was first announced in February this year, and it will be ready for preorders in June. The manufacturer is taking its time rolling out the device, but looking at the phone's sturdiness, we can understand why.
The S60 stays true to previous CAT models, with an impressive ability to resist concrete drops from a height of 6 feet (1.8 meters for European customers). The phone also has underwater protection that allows it to stay submerged for up to 1 hour at a depth of 16 feet (about 5 meters).
The latest addition to the CAT handset, however, is an embedded thermal camera.
FLIR Systems, a venture that specializes in standalone cameras, is the supplier of the sensor for the phone. Check out their CES 2016 additions to the pocket thermal camera lineup.
CAT S60's camera permits users to see heat that's invisible to the naked eye. This means that temperature contrasts as well as heat sources will be visible from as far as 100 feet (31 meters).
This is useful for spotting heat loss inside buildings or identifying home appliances that tend to overheat. The good news is that the camera does still shots, videos and time lapses.
"Building professionals, utility workers, emergency first responders and gadget lovers [will benefit from the camera]," CAT touts.
Additional details make the phone interesting for everyday use as well. The CAT S60 comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow pre-installed. Its specs place it somewhere in the mid-field, between ultra-affordable and hyper-powerful smartphones.
Its processing power comes from an eight-core Snapdragon 617 CPU, which gets backed by 3 GB of RAM. The default storage space sits at 32 GB. The smartphone holsters a 4.7-inch screen able to display resolutions of 720 x 1,280p. The relatively low-res screen, paired with the hefty 3,800 mAh battery, will make sure that your device stays on for a long time.
CAT notes that an SDK is in tow, so that coders can work their magic on the apps that use the thermal camera.
Preorders for the CAT S60 will open at the start of June. Europe will be the first market, with others expected to join in at an unspecified date.
Rumors say that the rough thermal camera-carrying smartphone will land in the United States with a price tag of $599, unlocked.
