Mobile space race intensifies: New devices with satellite connectivity unveiled

The new phones come in two versions: the $634.49 Caterpillar-branded Cat S75 and the $599 Motorola Defy 2.

Many advantages

Both devices come with 5G connectivity, a 6.6-inch display and 5,000 milliampere-hour battery, which the company claims can last up to two full days.

However satellite connection is not always active. It is only turned on when a user falls outside the reach of Wi-Fi or mobile network signals.

Despite being in the works for decades, satellite phones have not yet entered mainstream usage because they are often clunky and impractical. Bullit’s new devices don’t have these limitations due to a satellite-enabled chip from Taiwanese semiconductor firm MediaTek.

“This is assuredly not a gimmick,” Tim Shepherd, Bullitt’s senior director of applications and product marketing, told CNBC.

“Reliable communication beyond the traditional reaches of the cellular network is a major issue for a lot of people, and satellite technology is now at the right level of maturity to address the problem.”

A niche market

Ben Wood, lead analyst at CCS Insight, told CNBC that Bullitt is targeting a niche market.

“The company is a trailblazer for satellite messaging but competition is snapping at its heels,” Wood told CNBC. “That said, the target market for its devices is well suited to the technology so it has a lucrative niche to target.”

Bullitt has ambitious plans to support satellite coverage in Europe and North America at launch, with Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and Latin America to follow by mid-2023.

This is not the first time the company has put its bets on emerging technology. In 2016, it introduced what it called the world’s first thermal imaging smartphone, the Cat S60.

At the time, the firm claimed the new feature would be in 50 percent of smartphones in five years, but that never happened. Will it have better luck with its satellite phones?