The Cat S60 was announced earlier this year as the first phone to have one of FLIR's thermal camera sensors built right in. The phone does look a little bulbous, but it's not bad compared to a lot of Cat's other rugged phones. Anyone looking to pick up this unusual device should start saving now. Pre-orders are going to start next month.

According to Cat, the first wave of pre-orders will be for European customers only, but other territories will follow soon. Pricing is not listed in the press release, but The Verge reports that it will be €649 in Europe and $599 in the US. That's a lot for a phone with rather modest specs including a Snapdragon 617, a 4.7-inch 720p LCD, and 3GB of RAM. What you're really paying for is the MIL-STD-810G certified design and built-in FLIR camera. The external FLIR One dongle for smartphones costs $249 all by itself.

FLIR and Cat will also be making an SDK available for the camera in the S60. Developers will be able to download that in June as well to begin making new apps that work with the S60's thermal module. It's a niche to be sure, but it might result in some handy tools in certain fields.

Source: Cat