Two years ago, the no. 1 manufacturer of heavy equipment in the world entered a market comprised of concepts and products very different from those it has delivered for nearly 100 years.
In early 2013 the company famous for hulking bulldozers, rugged trucks and other equipment meant for moving mountains of dirt here in the real world, decided to compete with companies like Apple and Samsung, makers of small, sleek, fragile slabs of glass responsible for moving mountains of data in the virtual world.
In partnership with UK tech design firm Bullitt Group, Cat released the B15 with the goal of being the first and only smartphone targeting the desires and demands of the construction industry. In the time since then, Cat has released a spec-bump successor called the B15Q along with a slimmer design called the S50. And just recently the company announced its fourth smartphone, the “refined” S40.
The new phone is powered by a fast, quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and runs the latest version of Android (5.1 Lollipop). It has a 2-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8MP rear camera capable of shooting 1080p video. Like its siblings the B15 and S50, the S40 is drop, water- and dust proof to military specifications. Plus the screen can be used while wearing work gloves and when the screen is wet.
No U.S pricing has been set, though the phone will cost €439 in Europe. The expected U.S. release date is late September or early October.
In the lead up to the S40’s release, we sat down with Bullitt Group senior product manager Pete Cunningham to learn more about the new device, what went into its design and just how much the heavy equipment side of Cat’s business impacts the identity of Cat Phones.
There’s an old quote from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky that says “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” The quote, passed down to The Great One by his father Walter, was given further weight years later when it used by the late Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs who selected it as a way to explain how his company had managed to dream up things like the Macintosh, the iPod and iPhone.
