14 DAY TRIAL // UK branch of JCB has just announced the upcoming availability of three new “tough phones,” JCB Pro Smart, JCB Sitemaster 2 and JCB Sitemaster 3G.
The company launched earlier this year the DEFY+ JCB Edition, in collaboration with Motorola Mobility. The smartphone is now available for purchase for £240 (370 USD or 290 EUR) outright.
However, for the new handsets the company has teamed up with Peter Jones’s Data Select. JCB and Data Select have a long history together, as the companies previously released four other mobile phones.
It appears that the new mobile phones are sequels to the successful 2010 JCB Toughphone range. Still, these are a step up in durability and functionality. To set them apart, in addition to the tough technology, each phone comes with a JCB start-up screen and ringtone.
“These three handsets mark the future of tough technology and and are a welcome extension of an already impressive range of phones,” said Jason Kemp, marketing director at Data Select.
The most interesting seems to be JCB Pro Smart, which is in fact an Android-based smartphone. It is powered by Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and packs an 800 MHz single-core processor and microSD card slot for memory expansion (up to 32GB).
Obviously, the phone is waterproof, dustproof and features IP67 certification. There’s also a 5-megapixel rear photo snapper and a secondary front-facing camera for video calls.
JCB Sitemaster 2 is a basic feature-phone, but, just like the Pro Smart, comes with IP67 certification, which means it’s water- and dust-resistant. According to JCB, the phone was tested for one ton pressure and up to 2m drops.
The phone sports a 2-meagpixel rear camera, FM Radio, Bluetooth connectivity, as well as Torch functionality.
JCB Sitemaster 3G is IP54 certified, which makes it one of the toughest phones available on the market. The phone is water and dust resistant and has been tested for one-ton pressure and up to 2m drops. It packs a 5-megapixel rear photo snapper, Bluetooth 2.1 support, along with FM Radio and Torch functions.