By
Mayowa Adebajo
March 12th, 2024
Forget about the new iPhone X, Sirin Labs intends to create the first blockchain smartphone.
Sirin Labs company, producer of the US$16,000 Solarin Android smartphone, unveiled today that the world will see the first blockchain smartphone next year. The Finney – named in honor of bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney – will be the first smartphone safe and secure enough to hold cryptographic coins. To support the development of highly anticipated device Sirin is launching a crowdsale event in October with the exact dates not yet specified.
The expected phone will be the part of Finney series – the line which also includes an all-in-one PC – that would form an independent blockchain network powered by IOTA‘s Tangle technology and operating without centralized backbones or mining centers. The network will use the SRN token as its standard currency, and only SRN holders will be able to buy the new gadget.
The Finney line will run Shield operating system developed by Sirin to support inherent blockchain applications such as crypto wallets, secure exchange access, peer-to-peer resource sharing ecosystem, and an apps’ store for decentralized applications provided in partnership with Status.im.
“We’re paying close attention to the feedback we’ve received for Solarin, and while Solarin is still being sold and serviced, we decided to take the core offering and to wrap it with a new sleek design that’s a fraction of the cost, so it can serve the crypto community and their growing need for enhanced security,” – said Moshe Hogeg, CEO and Founder of Sirin Labs.
The blockchain smartphone will boast a number of impressive features and characteristics expected from a device which comes at $1,000 price tag (the PC will go on sale at a price of $799). Thus, the device will be equipped with a 256GB internal memory, 8GB RAM and 16MP camera and will have a hefty suite of security measures such as blockchain based, tampering proof verification, behavioral-based intrusion prevention system, three-factor authentication: biometric, lock pattern, and behavioral – all that will ensure full protection of the newly-designed smartphone.
However, the “crypto community” still remains a niche market, certainly more niche than the affluent business market the $14,000 Solarin smartphone was intended for, and that didn’t prove to be successful as less than a year after its launch, the company fired a third of its team members, citing that it would be “pursuing new directions to a new product line”. Some have suggested that the Solarin was a product ahead of its time, suggesting Finney device may well be too.
Meanwhile, a week and something ago Embedded Downloads announced that its BitVault – a fully operational smartphone and crypto communicator that uses blockchain technology and multi-layer encryption – is on it’s way with shipping, which starts as early as this November. The device will provide a range of unique services, including secure blockchain messaging, banking, calling, document transfer, and media vault as well as a secure blockchain developer platform, and others. The smartphone is now available for pre-orders on the company’s website.