HTC, the Taiwanese consumer electronics giant, announced the launch of the first blockchain smartphone ever. The fin-tech company has turned efforts into the latest innovations for quite a while and finally managed to introduce the special gadget on the market.
The Exodus 1 uses an Android Operating System but has high-security features. It includes a secure enclave – a separate area in the phone’s chip, which keeps it safe from the OS.
Phil Chen, the HTC’s decentralized chief officer, described before CNBC the safety component:
Think of it as a micro OS that runs in parallel with Android. It basically is a wallet, but the wallet, what it does is hold your private keys.
Exodus will run decentralized applications and digital programs on the blockchain platform. It will also have a key recovery function for resuming key digits if forgotten.
Other smartphone’s characteristics are a 16-megapixel dual camera, a six-inch display with high resolution and 128 GB of storage.
Smartphones appear to be more secure than laptops, tablets and other devices, according to specialists. It is so because of the so-called TEE or Trusted Execution Environment, the separate to the operating system area. In that sense, Exodus 1 must be a safe storing place for private keys.
The creators explain they target exactly the core audience of the crypto world with the new product. That is the reason, the smartphone to sold only in Bitcoin or Ethereum. Exodus 1 comes at a fixed price of fixed price of 0.15 Bitcoin (ETC) and 4.78 Ethereum (ETH), which means it fluctuates according to the markets’ volatility.
HTC Exodus 1 is available for a pre-order and will start shipping in December.
