Sonim Technologies Blog

Fugly and Proud

Our XP1 has been described in many ways by the press -- no nonsense, whack proof, perfectly designed, ultra-tough and no ordinary handset are among the words that have appeared in reviews. But of all the words that have been used, I think I like "Fugly" the best.

Yes, the XP1 (branded JCB Toughphone in the UK) was called fugly in a recent review in Slashgear, in which the reporter said that:

"I can’t not call this phone ugly. There is not a feature in the world that would talk me into carrying the JCB Toughphone around. Its industrial strength casing can withstand dust, shock, water and repeated dropping. It comes with Bluetooth, push to talk, and dual speakers that are extra loud. It comes in various colors: black and black, black and red, black and blue, black and green, and black and gray ...it’s also been nominated to represent the word “fugly” in the dictionary (by me). That being said I know it’s purpose is for a higher calling than social status and in that case it is a nice phone."

Well .... fugliness is just fine with us. In fact we embrace our phone's fugliness and rejoice in it.

We built the XP1 for people who work outside in tough conditions and need a phone that won't swoon and die when exposed to rain, snow, dirt, dust and mud. A phone that won't break if you drop it from a tractor, from a scaffold, or the 5th story of a construction site. We make our fugly phones for people who want tools that work, and don't much care what those tools look like. They don't buy a hammer, a drill, or any other tool based on appearance -- they buy the best engineered product they can find, one that does the job its intended to do, and does it for a long time.

We designed and manufactured this phone for people that the cell phone industry has forgotten, the people who actually bought the first cellphones years ago, back when all cell phones were built tough.

We also believe that tools that are properly designed and built, perfectly suited for the work they are intended to do, and can be relied on to work well over the years have an elegance that will never be present in cute and trendy disposable things. So I guess fugliness is in the eye of the beholder, but as long as it translates to a phone that's designed for "a higher calling than social status" we're more than happy to be the world's fugliest phone.

AT&T, SIM Cards and The XP1

Back in November, Verizon announced it was opening up its network to all compatible devices, news that was widely reported and applauded by the media and many bloggers. At the time AT&T also piped up and that its network was already the most wide open network in the US, but hardly anyone paid attention.

While it’s been true for a long time that anyone can use any unlocked wireless phone on AT&T’s network, you had to have an AT&T SIM card in your phone to make this work. And virtually any phone that had an AT&T SIM card was a phone that someone purchased from AT&T, with a service contract.

But now AT&T is actually offering 3G SIM cards a la carte, so anyone that has a 3G unlocked phone can buy the card, pop it into their 3G phone, and use it on AT&T’s network.

The AT&T 3G SIM card is priced at $10 on AT&T's website (currently there is a $5 discount if you purchase online). The cards are 3G-ready, with 64 K of onboard memory. You can pay as you go or choose a monthly fee plan.

So, for all of the folks who have been emailing and calling and asking about getting our XP1 phone for use in the US – it may happen sooner than we expected. Stay tuned, and sign up for our mailing list to ensure you get updates as they happen.

 

 

Owner Review: A Great "No-Nonsense" Product

We've received some terrific press coverage on our XP1 -- the world's toughest phone, and we appreciate every review. But the emails below, from someone who purchased an XP1 after he broke a bunch of far-less-tough phones, really made my day.

Hello,
I discovered your XP1 phone after last phone suffered instant death by a cracked screen, which the guarantee would not cover of course.

For awhile I was using the backup phone of a friend (a Sony Erickson m600i... and what a piece of junk. sorry... but it keeps disconnecting, reception is anything but optimal, and it does 1001 things, but not one really well). Obviously I didn't like it so yesterday I went to my local Sunrise retailer and bought the Sonim XP1 in yellow. I was unsure about the bright color, but after a moment I find that I actually like it quite a bit. It’s certainly easy enough to spot anywhere!

And the XP1 is fantastic. Reception is amazingly good compared to just about every other phone I've had. At my shop in the back-room where the forges are, I had almost null signal strength with other phones, the XP1 on the other hand has a very decent signal there.

The Black/White list is very useful – I like being able to go into "VIP only mode" or block those few really annoying callers. Size is good.  the keyboard operates perfectly even with large fingers and hands. it's comfortable... more so than any other modern phone, as it is not so tightly packed with keys.

And last but not least: it's truly loud.  everything, the ringtone, the voice quality... I hear it over the machine noise, which is perfect... also I've used the speaker phone outdoors in a noisy construction environment this morning... and that rocks. Thank you and your company for a great "no-nonsense" product.

Best regards,
Daniel

JCB TOUGHPHONE Torture Test

In this video mobile technology entrepreneur and 'Dragons Den' star Peter Jones witnesses a torture-test of the JCB TOUGHPHONE, custom-designed and produced with the help of Sonim Technologies. Jones watches happily as the phone is shoved off the top of a digger, run over by a 1.5 ton Groundhog, tossed into a working cement mixer and then drenched with water. Does the phone survive this messy mayhem? Have we finally found a way to kill the world's toughest phone? Watch and see.

Meet the JCB TOUGHPHONE

Construction equipment manufacturer, JCB, has recently released the JCB TOUGHPHONE, designed and produced with the help of Sonim Technologies. The JCB TOUGHPHONE is a special custom edition of the Sonim XP1 – The World’s Toughest Phone. It boasts the virtually indestructible engineering that the XP1 is famous for as well as Bluetooth connectivity, Push to Talk, tri-band and built-in dual speakers to ensure clear communication in noisy environments.

“The JCB TOUGHPHONE forms a key part of our strategy in providing accessories for the outdoor worker that they can rely on," saidJCB Consumer Products Director Matthew Conrad. " It has been a 2-year search to find the right product and Sonim came up with the goods. As well as its rugged construction, the JCB TOUGHPHONE is instantly recognised as a JCB product by its colour – which also increases visibility. The start-up screen features JCB graphics and, for a bit of fun, there is an exclusive JCB ringtone, the sound of one of our diggers starting up!"

Mobile Business Magazine gave the JCB TOUGHPHONE a terrific review.

I loves me gadgets, me. That’s true. I love shiny, technical things, and it’s a well-known running gag round here that I’m not happy with something unless it’s got more buttons than NASA.

So, I won’t like the TOUGHPHONE, right?

Wrong! I love it! Yes, I like gadgets, yes, I like high-tech toys that look like they should be in Tron, but you can’t help but love a phone that is so perfectly designed for the market it’s aiming at. No, it doesn’t have a camera… no, it doesn’t have 3G… no, it doesn’t have even a smidgeon of multimedia playback… and do you know what? I don’t care!

The JCB TOUGHPHONE will be available from Phones 4u, Speedy Hire and Plumb Centres. It will also be available for online purchase. 

The Burn Out Test

Ever wonder what might happen if you flung your phone under your car and did a few burnouts? Here's the answer; Sonim's XP1s survive, other phones get crushed. For more details, hit the play button.

Freakiest Phone!

Sonim's XP1 made Techworld's Freakiest Phones of 2007 list, for being the world's toughest phone.

TechWorld wrote:

Indestructible phone

We don't expect to see it from mobile operators - if the phone doesn't eventually break, how would they persuade people to upgrade? - but Sonim's XP1 rugged phone should be useful for mobile staff and (let's face it) pretty much anyone.

Other award winners were the iPhone, Google's Android platform, and a few really freaky phones, including:

Kiss phone

Normal phones are quite capable of sending the sound of a kiss. The kiss phone takes this a step further with a pair of actual built in lips that "detects percussion speed, pressure, temperature, and sucking force of the lips, when you kiss it," according to the inventor. "An artificial mouth on the kissphone receptor can reproduces same parameters."

Thankfully, this one is still at the concept stage, but the concept already sports heart shaped buttons in pastel shades.

Glamour phones

LG already did the Prada phone, and is working on a Rolex phone. Samsung did phones with Armani and the leather-cased Serenata with Bang & Olufsen.

Leader of this pack is still Vertu, a Nokia division famed for phones like the $25,000 Vertu phone. Completely disappointing to gadget fans, these rarely have advanced features. Strangely, most vendors never actually quote a price for these phones…

Gesture phones

Philippe Kahn's company FullPower is promising to create an interface based on gesture, shaking a phone to open emails and answer calls. With the Wii breaking records in the game world, this can't be too far off in phones.

Trust Sony Ericsson to take a different route to gesture control. The company has a patent out for gesture control by hand-waving at the camera

 

 

Keep On Truckin'

I'd like to thank the Sonim Truck Tour team for doing such an outstanding job introducing our XP1 phone in Sweden. You all went over and above the call of duty, figuring out interesting new ways to torture test the XP1. You flung the phone in cement mixers (and turned the mixers on), you strapped a phone to a firework rocket and shot it into the sky, played soccer with it, submerged it in a wide variety of liquids, ran over it with every vehicle you could lay your hands on, threw it from tall buildings and tossed it against hard surfaces.

 You cheerfully encouraged customers to engage in their own XP1 torture tests, answered all of their questions about the phone, and it was obvious to everyone you met that you were having a great time and were really proud of the product. Thanks!