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I accidentally broke the super-rugged Cat S60 smartphone
This year's Mobile World Congress played host to plenty of phones I couldn't stop playing with, and the $599 Caterpillar-branded Cat S60 was near the top of my list. First, though, a painfully obvious disclosure: I have never, nor do I currently, work in construction. I'm not an outdoorsman either, and I'm a terrible amateur plumber. That makes me half a lousy test subject here. Bullitt Group, the UK-based phone maker that licenses the Caterpillar brand, is targeting people working in trades, as well as folks who are generally just rough on their phones. I've definitely fallen into the latter camp on occasion, but either way, there's more to the S60 than just how hardy it is.
Cat's super-rugged B100 is pretty cool for a feature phone
I know, I know, it's a feature phone. But still, pretty cool as far as these things go. Granted, though, when we played around with the Cat B100, we had to get ourselves back into that pre-smartphone mindset (a phone without a touchscreen? Whaaa?). Like its older sibling, the B15, the B100 is as rugged as you'd expect of a device bearing the Caterpillar branding and a black-and-yellow color scheme. The B100 feels solid, owing much to its metal sides. The phone can take up to a 1.8-meter drop, and thanks to covered ports, can survive being submerged in one meter of water for half an hour. In place of the 15's touchscreen is a large-button keyboard, which you should theoretically be able to operate while wearing work gloves while on the job. On the rear is a three-megapixel camera and flash, along with a large speaker -- or you can just open up the headphone jack located on top of the phone. As for availability, well, we know it's coming to Germany and other parts of Europe this year. No word on if/when it'll be available here, though a rep assured us that more news would be forthcoming on that front later this year. Nicole Lee contributed to this report.
CIG patches Star Citizen's hangar, puts Caterpillar on sale
Cloud Imperium has released a new patch for Star Citizen's hangar module. The update "contains over 100 changes based on feedback [...] from backers experimenting with the module." Fixes include flickering decals, missing cargo pallets, character sitting and running animations, and more. A complete list of patch notes is available via the SC launcher. CIG is also running a weekend-only promo on the Drake Interplanetary Caterpillar. The cargo and pirate support ship will set you back a cool $225.00, but keep in mind that like all SC pledge ships, the proceeds go directly to development costs and the ships themselves will be earnable via gameplay if you choose not to pre-purchase.
Caterpillar CAT B15 rugged smartphone hands-on
Caterpillar's signature yellow and black CAT branding was definitely spinning heads and getting passerby's attention as it showed off its rugged B15. As far as tough goes the handset's corners are wrapped in rubber with the connections in between covered with anodized aluminum. The B15 is IP67 certified, which means both protected from dust and waterproof up to 3.3 feet for 30 minutes and can be dropped from about six feet and live to tell the tale -- you, however, may not. Other notables include a 4-inch WVGA display, dual-core 1GHz Cortex-A9 and a 5-megapixel camera that'll shoot 720p video and can do continuous pic shooting. Sadly, we forgot our rubber mallet at home so we couldn't try to beat it to pieces but we did appreciate the housing on the CAT phone it's surprisingly nice to hold and well put together. Sure, there's a wee bit of overkill with the tough machine branding, but we're sure this phone will garner a bit of a following. Our favorite bit? The Caterpillar phone features something called wet finger tracking, so even if you happen to fall into a deep puddle while using your B15, you can finish whatever you were up to before tumbling. The B15 ships in March for a cool $436, though, there's no word on what carrier's planning to scoop this up -- see what we did there? There's a gallery of the B15 in all its tough guy splendor after the break.
Caterpillar CAT B15 smartphone offers a taste of rugged Jelly Bean
We've seen our fair share of rugged smartphones, but there's a certain amount of attention due when a heavy equipment builder like Caterpillar gets involved. Its newest smartphone, the CAT B15, undoubtedly has the survivability you'd expect from a company that makes bulldozers: the aluminum-and-rubber shell can survive 5.9-foot drops on to hard concrete, stay immersed in 3.3 feet of water for half an hour and keep working in temperatures between -4F to 122F. Just don't expect top-flight performance elsewhere. While we're big fans of the CAT B15 shipping with Jelly Bean, its 4-inch WVGA screen, dual-core 1GHz Cortex-A9 chip, 512MB of RAM and 5-megapixel camera won't have many of us giving up our faster, more fragile devices. The phone's £299 and €329 European prices (about $437) could still lead to the more accident-prone among us picking up a CAT B15 when it ships in March.
Insert Coin: Troller 1D, the transforming robot that won't ruin your garden
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. A crawling robot that, at the touch of a button, curls up into a wheel and rolls away sounds a bit Robots in Disguise, doesn't it? Still, that's what roboticist Toby Baumgartner needs your cold, hard cash to build. Troller 1D is the first prototype of the modular automaton that uses a series of servos to take it anywhere it needs to go -- but it's not ready yet. The project needs $2,600 to get better servos and add some WiFi and Accelerometer features that'll get the 'bot rolling without any assistance. Once perfected, you'll be able to buy a kit with everything you need to build your own and terrify the local wildlife / your children.
Researchers build a robot inspired by caterpillars, nightmares (video)
There's a long history of robots modeled on animals, and some researchers from Tufts University have now taken things in a particularly creepy-crawly direction. They've built a robot that's able to mimic the way a caterpillar balls itself up to bounce away from predators. As you can see in the video above, while the robot (dubbed GoQBot) is quite a bit bigger than the actual bug, is does indeed do a pretty good caterpillar imitation. What might such a bot be used for? Well, the researchers say that the so-called "ballistic rolling" behavior could be used to improve on some of the many existing robots that are modeled on worms or snakes -- which could let them fling themselves into a disaster area, for instance, and then wiggle around to aid in search and rescue operations. Head on past the break to see the bot in slow-motion.
Caterpillar introduces customization on the iPhone
Many of you have no doubt noticed that there hasn't been much happening over at unsanity since the release of Leopard broke their haxie "Application Enhancers." Well, apparently some of the developers behind unsanity are now banking on the iPhone instead with a new "Mobile Enhancer" technology called Caterpillar. Basically, Caterpillar adds customization options to a jailbroken iPhone. At present the tools include a Smart Dialer, customized wallpaper with calendar, customized SpringBoard backgrounds (the home page) and more. Interestingly, they're planning to offer the package on a subscription model and it will be "constantly growing as [they] add new tools and functionality." The Caterpillar package is available now by adding their repository to Installer.app on a jailbroken iPhone. The service will run $20 for six months, $35 for 12 months, or $45 a non-expiring license. Of course, you jailbreak your iPhone at your own risk; I have not tested this myself.
HeartLander caterpillar robot crawls on heart, administers treatment
We get a little more creeped out each week or so, as a new form of minimally overtly invasive robotic creature somehow comes to life and sets its sights on perusing our innards. The newest species hails from Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was designed to "crawl across the surface of the heart to deliver treatment." The eerily-dubbed "robotic caterpillar" measures just a few centimeters in length and can scoot about at a blistering 18-centimeters per minute via "push and pull" control wires that reside outside of the body. The lead doctor on the project suggests that the critter could "allow procedures to be carried out without having to stop the heart, reducing the risk of illness linked to heart bypass surgeries," and moreover, insinuated that patients would spend less time recovering in the hospital after he / she was all sewn up. Apparently, the HeartLander could be available for human practice "within three to four years," but according to a director at the British Heart Foundation, "a lot more research is needed to determine whether something delivered to the outside surface of the heart can modify activity on the inside."[Via BBC]
Caterpillar looking to build robotic machinery
Robotic machines certainly aren't reserved for just party hopping -- as we've seen automated firefighters and unassisted surgeons doing their thang already -- and Caterpillar isn't about to fall behind the times, as its looking to "smart iron" to maintain that edge in the oh-so-fierce heavy machinery biz. By investing a hefty amount of its non-finance revenue back into R&D, CAT is hoping that within a few years its earthmovers will be operating sans the operator. While also working on fuel cell-powered machines on the side, the company is looking into GPS integration in order to examine terrain, geography, and location from afar, as well as utilizing autonomous instructions to handle lifting, moving, and the myriad of dirty chores those yellow behemoths must handle. While machines that roll solo are certainly ideal, remote controlled versions are also being evaluated, so expertly trained drivers can direct their vessel(s) from the comfort of a dust free, air conditioned office. CAT's CEO is definitely amped about the robotic possibilities, and reportedly hopes to see results wheeling around your neighborhood "10 or 15 years down the road."
