Smartphones struggle to stand out in a crowded market, so any advantage they can get, whether it’s a true innovation or just a gimmick to catch attention. The Caterpillar S60 phone probably qualifies as a little bit of both.
The centerpiece of this particular smartphone is the FLIR thermal imagining sensor built into the back, right next to the standard camera. You probably know of FLIR if you watch science documentaries or videos of people taking cricket balls to the face. More recently, they built a $250 add-on for iOS and Android, but this marks the first time their infrared technology has been built right into a phone. In fact, in theory, this lets you see in complete darkness, and when there’s light, it can use both cameras to overlay a thermal image on a standard one and give you a better idea of what’s happening.
It’s also waterproof and relatively drop-proof, as it has Gorilla Glass and a die-cast steel casing, and can be used with work gloves and in rainy conditions. As you might have guessed, both from the ruggedness and the fact that an industrial machinery company has put its name on the back, this is really a phone designed for contractors and their work sites. Thermal cameras are incredibly useful for spotting drafts in buildings, leaks in HVAC systems, and other problems that may not be visible to the naked eye that we expect men with power tools to come fix.
Finally, it works on multiple global positioning networks, including GPS, Glonass and even China’s Beidou system, so you’ll always know where you are. It also includes an FM tuner, for some reason.
That said, it comes at a cost. The screen is just 1280×720 resolution, and the thermal imaging will be half that. But at $600, if you’re looking for a new smartphone in June and want to find and seal off that pesky draft once and for all, this might be worth it.
(Via Caterpillar)