2019 may be shaping up to be the year of the blockchain phone. After Sirin Labs’ announcement of the release of its Finney model – due to hit the markets in November – Pundi X appears now to be the latest technology outfit to announce its own crypto-based smartphone, with a product release scheduled for Q2 of 2019.
The Singaporean project presented its new phone – the XPhone – at a blockchain summit in Bali this week. The phone leverages the company’s new proprietary operating system known as Function X, which has been derived from Android 9.0 open source technology to include a new blockchain-based layer which in turn allows users to secure and monetise their personal data.
New Generation Dapps
Whilst the phone itself is entirely compatible with current Android apps, its purpose is to platform new applications and communications technology that can offer complete privacy without requiring any central authority to do so – so-called decentralised applications, or Dapps.
It is likely that the phone – and other similar models to it – will present some appeal for the security conscious. However, the Pundi X team are banking on another feature – the ability of users to monetise their own personal data- as its chief strategy for wider adoption.
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC is also thought to be planning its own blockchain phone in what is becoming an increasingly competitive space. Originally scheduled for release in Q3 of 2018, the project appears to have been subject to a number of delays, with observers now forecasting a final product release for Q1 of 2019.
