Camera maker Red has announced a smartphone with a "holographic" display. But it won't come cheap:
It all sounds like some sort of mix between the gimmicky visual trickery Amazon offered with the Fire Phone and the glasses-less 3D displays like the ones found on the Nintendo 3DS. But in a forum post written shortly after the announcement, RED founder Jim Jannard says "there is no good way to describe it until you see it." He also writes that "our display is technology you haven't seen before. It is not lenticular, which is inferior tech in every way, has been tried many times before and failed for good reason. (see Amazon 3D Fire, LG Optimus, etc)."
RED says that it will also use an algorithm to convert stereo sound into "multi-dimensional audio" to add to the immersive experience — or, as RED puts it, to "ASSAULT YOUR SENSES." The phone will allow for modular attachments, similar to those found on the Moto Z line or the Essential Phone, but with a special focus on image capture. And the phone will work (somehow) with RED's extensive lineup of digital cinema cameras.
Red's Hydrogen One PDF conveniently guarantees that orders will be delayed after an initial release.
Red is known for making cameras that can shoot in 6K and 8K resolutions, intended for film production.
Related Stories
RED Hydrogen One Review of Reviews: A Spectacular Failure
RED is most well-known for making very high-end camera equipment. The Hydrogen One was announced over a year ago and was supposed to launch this past summer. It was delayed several times, but it will soon be available for the lofty price of $1,300. That's why the review embargo lifted this morning with almost unanimous negativity.
Red Hydrogen One Review: Red, dead, no redemption
The Hydrogen One is defined by its ambition. It's meant to revolutionize not just phones, but all of media with a "holographic" display and a camera system capable of recording into this 3D format. The phone is also expandable, and RED — one of the most esteemed names in digital imaging — plans to release an add-on camera sensor that's capable of transforming the phone into a full-on cinema camera.
It's an exciting prospect, but it all comes crashing down because of one immense flaw: the holographic display just isn't very good. It's a novelty. And while you can occasionally see glimmers of the potential that RED might have seen in this tech, it's certainly not present in this generation of the phone, and it's hard to imagine that potential being realized any time soon.
- The Red Hydrogen One Fails to Ignite Reviewer Passions
- RED Hydrogen One review: Buy now, enjoy later? Red's Hydrogen One lacks its most anticipated feature
- Review: RED Hydrogen One holographic phone has potential, but it's far from ready
- RED Hydrogen One review: A defining gimmick can't save this overpriced experiment
- RED Hydrogen One review: It's really cool
Previously: RED Pitches a $1,200 Holographic Android Smartphone
Red Hydrogen Two confirmed despite first phone's failure
While Red's first foray into the smartphone market failed to live up to the digital cinematography company's stellar reputation, its founder Jim Jannard has today confirmed that a much-improved follow-up to the troubled Red Hydrogen One handset is in the works.
In a candid post on Red's own H4Vuser.net forums, Jannard placed most of the blame for the Hydrogen One's failings on an unnamed Chinese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), saying, "Getting our ODM in China to finish the committed features and fix known issues on the HYDROGEN One has proven to be beyond challenging. Impossible actually."
However, it appears the phone's successor is on the right track, with Jannard explaining that "after months of vetting a new design to manufacture [in-]house, we have begun the work on the HYDROGEN Two, virtually from scratch, at a new ODM that is clearly more capable of building and supporting the product we (and our customers) demand."
Also at Ars Technica.
Previously: RED Pitches a $1,200 Holographic Android Smartphone
$1,300 RED Hydrogen One Smartphone Fails to Impress Reviewers
RED cancels Hydrogen phone project as founder Jim Jannard retires
RED's ambitious Hydrogen phone project is ending after the release of just a single device, the Hydrogen One, according to an announcement from Jim Jannard. The company's founder says that he is "shutting down the HYDROGEN project" as he retires due to "a few health issues."
The $1,295 RED Hydrogen One was the first smartphone from the high-end camera company; first announced in 2017, it promised bold new technologies like a "holographic display," a top-notch camera system, and modular attachments to expand the phone over time. After a series of delays, the phone was eventually released to a lackluster reception in October 2018.
[...] Jannard has been the face of RED and its high-end cameras since he founded the company back in 1999. According to Jannard, RED Digital Cinema will live on under the leadership of Jarred Land (RED's current president), Tommy Rios (RED's executive vice president) and Jamin Jannard (RED's president of marketing and creative).
That's enough of that.
Also at Wccftech.
Previously: RED Pitches a $1,200 Holographic Android Smartphone
$1,300 RED Hydrogen One Smartphone Fails to Impress Reviewers
RED Blames Chinese Manufacturer for "Hydrogen One" Issues, Confirms Second Smartphone
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 07 2017, @05:49AM
In other news, $1,200 mysteriously missing from Soylent donations fund.
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Friday July 07 2017, @08:04AM (4 children)
Expensive? A 256GB iPhone 7 Plus is $969 if you buy it outright (no payment plan). Tens of millions of people buy a new iPhone every year or so. A Galaxy S8+ is $849. If this holographic phone is that amazing it doesn't sound that expensive. There may be a ton of cheap Android phones but most of the good ones are similar in price to iPhones. I would have expected something next-level from RED to be priced more like two or three grand. That, I would call expensive for a phone.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Friday July 07 2017, @02:33PM (3 children)
And most importantly they delivered. I normally don't like "wow"-level non-sneak non-preview sneak previews, as I hate slideware, but as it's these guys, I think yet again they'll deliver. I'd still like to see an electronics/optics expert tear down some of their prior kit to work out how it works, as they have got remarkably close to blowing the laws of physics out of the water in the past.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday July 07 2017, @07:15PM (2 children)
The main question is what the shiny tech gets you for your money.
With the RED cameras, it was the convenience of shooting digital at near-film quality (on the good-enough scale. for the purists).
With a phone? ... Holographic? ... what's the killer app?
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday July 08 2017, @08:09AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Saturday July 08 2017, @08:11AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday July 07 2017, @09:04AM (1 child)
Smartwatches suck because of the tiny displays and a, consequently, terrible user interface. But, a holographic projector and a motion capture camera could solve that.
compiling...
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday July 07 2017, @01:40PM
Absolutely. Unfortunately, this is the bad kind of hologram. Why else would they need a 5.7 inch screen?
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 07 2017, @12:27PM (1 child)
This sounds like it could be an investment scam type of thing. Not saying it is, of course, just that it has some of the hallmarks.
(Score: 1) by Beau Slim on Saturday July 08 2017, @06:25AM