EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
With its new blockchain phone, HTC angles for a slice of the crypto market
HTC Corp. wants a slice of cryptocurrency market.
The Android phone maker today unveiled a new model that will have blockchain-enabled cryptowallet support built in by default. The new phone, called Exodus, will feature a cryptocurrency wallet with a secure hardware enclave to support bitcoin, Ethereum and other Ethereum-based tokens out of the box.
Although the headline is cryptocurrencies, HTC itself is emphasizing the blockchain support, saying that it wants to “expand the blockchain ecosystem” by creating the world’s first phone focused on decentralized applications and security.
“We believe we can help reshape the internet with the HTC Exodus,” the company added. “Join us and together we will make decentralization a reality.”
The wider support, or what HTC actually calls “the Switzerland of protocols” on the Exodus website, includes full support for not only cryptocurrencies but DApps as well. Those are decentralized applications that run on a peer-to-peer blockchain network of computers rather than on a single computer. Although support for DApps is young, the most famous so far being Cryptokitties, the concept is predicted by some to be the next big thing in terms of application distribution and support.
“Through the Exodus, we are also excited to be supporting underlying protocols such as Bitcoin, Lightning Networks, Ethereum, Dfinity and more,” said Phil Chen, previously the head of HTC’s virtual reality unit but now head of the Exodus development team. “We would like to support the entire blockchain ecosystem, and in the next few months we’ll be announcing many more exciting partnerships together.”
What is lacking is any further details about the phone. In a normal phone announcement, the company would include details such as what processor the phone is running, its screen size, memory and other details a typical phone buyer would want to know. But in 2018, apparently the term blockchain now suffices as a descriptor for a phone’s purpose as opposed to how it actually works, its size and the processing power it utilizes.
HTC has not formally said when it will be released, but according to Coindesk, the company is planning to ship the phone “by the end of the year.”
Image: HTC
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