Huawei the world’s third-largest mobile phone maker is reported to be exploring the release of a model that can run blockchain applications according to two anonymous sources reported by Bloomberg News.
First Blockchain Enabled Phone on its Way
The Shenzen, China-based company known for making high functioning phones at a low price has confirmed that it is in talks with Sirin Labs but would not elaborate on what the meetings were about.
However, people familiar with the discussions have reported that Huawei is interested in using the Sirin Labs operating system SIRIN OS alongside the Android system Alphabet Inc. in a new blockchain ready line of phones.
Sirin Labs’ own Telegram chat group backs up the report as photos show representatives of both companies on Feb. 28 with a caption that reads;
“Amazing meeting just concluded between Sirin Labs and Huawei. Among other things discussed was the possibility of cooperating together to bring blockchain technology to the masses in a secure way.”
This would be the first blockchain enabled smartphone on the market potentially bringing a wider understanding of what blockchain technology is to the general public and therefore opening up wider reaching applications of the technology.
According to Techspot Huawei may use the blockchain to register all of its active devices on their network so that proof of ownership could be made by producing the unique keys associated with a particular device on the ledger.
Though Huawei is a giant in the phone industry Sirin Labs is also planning to release a blockchain enabled smartphone. The Finney will be priced at about a $1,000 and Sirin has already had pre-orders of 25,000 units in anticipation of a general release in the second half of this year.
The most attractive feature of the Finney may be the inclusion of a cold wallet into the smartphone. A cold wallet is used to store cryptocurrency securely offline. The digital assets stored in the wallet would also be available for conversion to Fiat currency automatically.
The Huawei phone is likely to offer similar features but at a lower price point according to the anonymous sources. Huawei has a large stake in several technology communications fields and as the third largest maker of cellular phones in the world is looking to make a run in Europe as well as penetrating Apple Inc.’s home turf in the US. Talks between the two companies are still in the preliminary stages with no agreement signed as yet according to inside sources.