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Adventurer demands -70°C phone for next expedition
Sonim pledges suitably chill-resistant handset
Aging adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, 65, has hinted that rugged-phone firm Sonim is working on an ultra-hard handset ideal for use on his next jaunt.
Sonim's S1 Land Rover phone: will work at down to -70°C?
During Sonim’s launch of its new S1 Land Rover phone in Birmingham yesterday, Sir Ranulph said that the firm’s currently “working hard” to ensure that the handset can survive icy temperatures as low as -70°C.
The S1 is currently 'only' guaranteed to work in conditions down to -20°C, but the explorer told Register Hardware that he’d like to take one of the handsets on his next expedition - provided that Sonim’s able to ensure the S1 will operate at even lower temperatures.
But frost, snow and severe windchill aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so thankfully the Sonim S1 – as it currently stands – can also withstand the rigours of more mundane life.
Explorer meets Vulture
For example, the phone will survive a 2m drop onto concrete, Sonim said, and remain operational after a 30-minute dunk in up to 1m of water.
The handset has a 2Mp camera, Assisted GPS and Bluetooth 2.0. The phone’s battery will provide 18 hours of talk time, Sonim claimed.
The Sonim S1 is available now in the UK, priced at around £300 ($492/€355). ®
Biting the hand that feeds IT
