The blockchain smartphone will host tons of feature with crypto-related activities. The first batch will be shipped in October 2018 at a price of $1000.
As per the latest reports from Bloomberg, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based technology giant Foxconn will develop and manufactured the blockchain smartphone codenamed ‘Finney’ from Swiss startup Sirin Labs. Last year owing to a huge surge in the crypto craze across the globe, the company announced Finney which is an Android-based open-source ‘blockchain’ smartphone which hosts some of the very interesting features.
The Finney blockchain smartphone will have a cold-storage cryptocurrency wallet along with other facilities of peer-to-peer sharing and encrypted communications. The phone will also provide the facility of simple conversion between crypto tokens and Sirin Labs is also expected to develop an app store hosting all the decentralized applications (DAPPS).
The report also stated that ‘It will let owners shop on crypto friendly sites like Overstock.com and Expedia, converting cash into specialized tokens if needed. Users may also activate their phone’s Wi-Fi while commuting and get paid in tokens by fellow bus riders looking for access to a wireless network.’
Bloomberg reports that the blockchain smartphone will be shipped around October this year for a price of $1000 and initially will be sold on eight new stores that will be placed at crypto hotspots around the globe like Turkey and Vietnam. Sirin Labs CEO Moshe Hogeg said that if the demand picks up it is possible that the phone may be sold eventually through mobile carriers as well.
Currently, managing your digital currency investments is a bit tricky process especially for new and novice investors within the crypto space. To keep them secured and free from online phishing, one needs to adopt the cold-storage method of saving the digital assets on a piece of hardware not connected online. However, this comes with additional responsibilities of users of everytime remembering the usernames or passwords that can possibly be a dozen character long.
During an interview, Sirin Labs CEO Moshe Hogeg said that with the company aims to provide users with a hassle-free experience while managing their crypto assets. Moshe said that with the current experience it is difficult to expand it to mass markets. Moshe said: “There’s no chance my mom can figure out how to use Bitcoin, and my mom is smart.”
He further added “I want to do something that’s better than the current user experience. In the end, when you look at the Chinese wall, it started with one guy taking one small brick and putting it into place. And then another one and then another one. We can do it step by step.”
Back in December 2017, Sirin Labs raised $158 million for this project through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) which is in addition to $70 million raised previously. Sirin Labs is already said to have received 25,000 orders for the Finney blockchain smartphone and for 2018, the company is targetting sales of around 100,000 to several million handsets.
Reports are that Sirin Labs is looking forward to licensing its technology to other manufacturers in an attempt to bring down the smartphone’s cost to as low as $200.
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