December 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment

JCB Pro-Smart/Utano Barrier T180 microUSB cable

If you own a JCB Pro-Smart or a Utano Barrier T180, or similar devices to this, you will probably be aware that due to the design of the phones you need to use the provided USB cable as most after market cables will not fit into the phone.

The microUSB connection on the device is recessed and therefore needs a special cable that has extra length on the microUSB connector to fit correctly.

To date these have been unavailable as an accessory, but we can confirm that you can now purchase a suitable cable HERE.

Update 14/02/2013: We do too now have a vehicle charger available HERE.

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October 23, 2012 By

JCB Toughphone concrete test

JCB Toughphone Marketing Director Jason Kemp finds another inventive way to put the JCB Sitemaster 2 through its paces.

When we launched the original Toughphone in 2007 one of the tests was to put the phone in a cement mixer. Celebrity Toughphone tester Peter Jones (who outside of Dragons’ Den owns the company that makes the JCB Toughphone) put five Toughphones in a cement mixer. We left them in the rotating drum for a couple of minutes with sand and gravel. All survived.

So we thought we’d take that challenge further. We got one bag of quick drying concrete and a Sitemaster 2, mixed the concrete and put the phone in to set (while we went off and strapped a Pro-Smart to a couple of rockets).

A couple of hours later and the concrete had set hard – now here’s the tough bit, can the phone survive being smashed out of concrete with screen intact and still be able to function. Have a look and see for yourself…

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October 15, 2012 By

JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart vs A Rocket

Last month we had a look with Jason Kemp, Marketing Director for JCB Toughphone, to see how the JCB Sitemaster 2 could cope with being flushed down the toilet (video after the cut). Jason is back again, but this time he has a JCB Pro-Smart and some rockets (his idea, not ours!). Let’s see how this test for the JCB Toughhone Range panned out:

How do you come up with the next challenge for a JCB Toughphone? Let’s face it, there’s loads of footage of phones being dropped and run over, so it’s about finding something new. And remember, I’m looking to show what the phone can survive, not a destruction test (there is no such thing as an unbreakable phone).

So I’m chatting with my friend James (who looks after PR for the JCB Toughphone). We came up with the idea of firing the phone into the air, strapped to a rocket. Why? Mainly because we thought it would look cool and also it’s the only way to drop something from several hundred feet (except from a parachute!)

So off we go to the firework shop in Stoke-on-Trent and explain our plan. We end up with four massive rockets which cost us £20 each. The guy in the shop recommended we strap all four together for the test, but that seemed excessive and would only give us one take. So James and I decided we knew better and strapped just two rockets together! We debated wind speed, balance, trajectory but in the end realised it was best to just light the fuse, leg it far away and start the camera rolling…

 

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August 7, 2012 By

IP67 Rated & Rugged–Utano Barrier T180 v JCB Pro-Smart

Two rugged Android handsets fight it out.

Some phones just cant quite survive in hostile environments where lots of dust, water and mud may be involved, unless you wrap them in rugged cases, but you could argue why not just buy a rugged phone.

If you go down this route, 2 handsets you may consider are the JCB Pro-Smart and the Utano Barrier T180.  Both are IP67 rated handsets, designed to operate in harsh environments.  Both have similar price tags but have slightly different box contents and features.

The Utano is dual SIM, meaning you can have 2 active SIM cards in the phone at any one time, unlike the single SIM of the JCB.

Check out our comparison video below for more information to help you figure out which is right for you.

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May 14, 2012 By

JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart Android Phone has GPS

To clear up any confusion that may exist, the JCB Pro-Smart does have GPS on board despite the spec sheet and some reviews making no mention of this.

We can confirm that we have tested the device with Google Maps having switched on the GPS and it acquired our position.

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April 25, 2012 By

**CAUTION–word of warning**JCB Toughphone–Pro-Smart & Sitemaster charging cables

Update 30/11: YOU CAN BUY A REPLACEMENT USB CABLE, SUITABLE HERE

Update 14/02/2013: We do too now have a vehicle charger available HERE.

A little word of warning surrounding the JCB Toughphone including the Pro-Smart & Sitemaster.  There is no problem, but something you need to be aware of.

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April 24, 2012 By

What languages are on the JCB Pro-Smart?

Take a look at the following video to see what language options you have on the JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart. You might be surprised to see Russian, Hebrew & many more as writing languages.

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April 23, 2012 By

JCB Pro-Smart Sample Images

Take a look at some of the images captured on the JCB Pro-Smart’s 5 megapixel camera.

IMG_20120419_102208_0IMG_20120419_102117_0IMG_20120419_102131_0IMG_20120419_102226_0IMG_20120419_102532_0

The following shows are a picture taken with no zoom and then taken from the same location with 4x zoom.

IMG_20120419_102139_0IMG_20120419_102153_0

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April 20, 2012 By

JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart (TP909) Android Smartphone Unboxing

An unboxing of the JCB Toughphone Pro-Smart TP909, the first android smartphone from JCB allowing tradespeople the first true smartphone designed for use on site.

For more information visit:
http://www.clove.co.uk/jcb-toughphone-pro-smart

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April 19, 2012 By

JCB Pro-Smart vs Motorola Defy Plus

If you often find yourself in a challenging environment – perhaps you work outdoors, exposed to the elements or indoors in a dusty environment – you might always have considered today’s fragile smartphones a tad impractical.

Fortunately, manufacturers including Motorola and JCB have produced products with exactly you in mind. In this post we’ll compare two of the leading rugged smartphones on the market, the JCB Pro-Smart and Motorola DEFY Plus.

Screen Size

JCB Pro-Smart

3.2 Inches

Motorola Defy+

3.7 Inches

The Motorola Defy+ comes equipped with a 3.7” Corning ‘Gorilla Glass’ scratch resistant touchscreen compared to the 3.2” scratch resistant touchscreen found on the JCB Pro-Smart.

Processor

JCB Pro-Smart

800mHz

Motorola Defy+

1gHz

The Motorola Defy+ comes up trumps again with a 1GHz processor packed inside. While neither phone has been designed to run the latest graphically intense mobile games, both handsets will have more than enough grunt to perform the core smartphone tasks of calling, web browsing and checking email as well as being able to run the overwhelming majority of apps in the Google Play store without a problem.

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