HTC is launching a blockchain-powered phone
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow0245
HTC is developing a new android phone that will be powered by blockchain technology. The phone, named Exodus, will feature a universal wallet and a built-in secure hardware enclave to support cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications.
Source: https://thenextweb.com/hardfork/2018/05/15/htc-blockchain-powered-phone/
Also at The Verge:
To start with, the Exodus phone will have support for bitcoin, ethereum, and other major networks, with more partnerships expected to come later on. HTC envisions a native blockchain network that uses Exodus phones as nodes that support cryptocurrency trading between users. HTC is also reportedly considering allowing people to purchase the Exodus phone with cryptocurrency. No price has been set yet for the phone.
[...] Chen said during the New York City blockchain conference, Consensus 2018, today: "We envision a phone where you hold your own keys, you own your own identity and data, and your phone is the hub."
Related Stories
HTC's blockchain-powered Exodus smartphone is a risky bet that needs to pay off
In May, HTC first announced that it was working on a blockchain-powered smartphone called the Exodus. The news came as one of the company's more intriguing projects after a poor start to the year. Last year, HTC shipped over 2 million products in Q1. This year, it shipped only 630,000 products in Q1, according to numbers from IDC.
HTC is in pretty poor shape after a round of layoffs last week where the company laid off 1,500 employees in Taiwan in hopes of becoming profitable. Sales in June were down 68 percent, according to the company. Its latest flagship, the U12 Plus, has received largely negative reviews over its odd solid-state buttons and software bugs.
It's a less than stellar time for blockchain, as well. Cryptocurrency prices are low, and last month, bitcoin was tied to price manipulation in a report from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin.
Considering HTC's financial situation, there's a lot at stake with the Exodus phone. Now we have details from HTC's Phil Chen about when we can expect the phone to be released and an estimate on how much it might cost. Although Chen was vague on specifics, he told The Verge that we can expect the phone around the end of this year and we can expect a price announcement by the end of Q3. When I mentioned that the world's first blockchain-powered phone called Finney, created by Sirin Labs, costs $1000, Chen said the price of Exodus would be "comparable."
And it comes with CryptoKitties!
See also: Wikileaks breeds and sells Cryptokitties, gifts them to Trump and Clinton
Previously: HTC Announces a "Blockchain-Powered" Smartphone
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:33AM (2 children)
Oooh, my phone can also be my crypto wallet? So if I lose my phone I'm doubly screwed? Where do I sign up?
(Score: 4, Funny) by arslan on Wednesday May 16 2018, @03:09AM
Don't fret, all your past transactions & data are available in everyone else's phone, just make sure to tattoo your wallet id on your forehead and you're all set.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:50PM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Touché) by Arik on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:33AM (14 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by requerdanos on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:03AM (13 children)
This "powered by" garbage needs to stop, immediately.
My computer is not "powered by" Debian GNU/Linux. It's powered by electricity from the nuke plant a few km away.
My websites are not "powered by Apache" -- again, it's electricity, from an upstream source.
That blog isn't "powered by Wordpress" -- it's powered by wires used to pipe in a steady flow of electrons. Electricity. Generated somewhere. (This "powered by Wordpress" nonsense is hardcoded into many of their themes by people who clearly don't understand force nor motion, and who have little respect for those who do.)
These things, like the HTC phone in question, consume power; they don't provide it.
Things can be powered by fuel, or stored energy, but not much else.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:32AM (7 children)
And your post is powered by Autism. Chill out, "Powered by" is another way of letting people know what background services are running. English is a living language, it involves in ways like this or new ways of using phrases to get a point accross. By your logic, we should all go back to Olde English.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:44AM (1 child)
I once lived in Newfoundland.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:05AM
"Newfie!!"
--Anthony Bourdain
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Funny) by requerdanos on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:22PM (3 children)
Thanks, that helps me out.
The power for this post was provided by the following.
0 - DLs 0:04.86 [kernel]
1 - ILs 0:00.03 /sbin/init --
2 - DL 0:00.00 [crypto]
3 - DL 0:00.00 [crypto returns]
4 - DL 0:33.41 [cam]
5 - DL 0:00.42 [soaiod1]
6 - DL 0:00.42 [soaiod2]
7 - DL 0:00.42 [soaiod3]
8 - DL 0:00.42 [soaiod4]
9 - DL 0:00.00 [sctp_iterator]
10 - DL 0:00.00 [audit]
11 - RL 361517:21.86 [idle]
12 - WL 22:46.61 [intr]
13 - DL 0:00.03 [geom]
14 - DL 2:46.40 [usb]
15 - DL 1:37.44 [rand_harvestq]
16 - DL 0:12.10 [pagedaemon]
17 - DL 0:00.00 [vmdaemon]
18 - DL 0:00.04 [pagezero]
19 - DL 0:26.55 [bufspacedaemon]
20 - DL 1:15.00 [bufdaemon]
21 - DL 0:14.24 [vnlru]
22 - DL 144:14.62 [syncer]
342 - Ss 0:01.16 /sbin/devd
486 - Ss 0:04.55 /usr/sbin/syslogd -ss
542 - Ss 1:31.38 /usr/sbin/ntpd -c /etc/ntp.conf -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -f /var/
576 - Ss 3:38.03 /usr/sbin/powerd
608 - Is 0:00.01 /usr/local/bin/dbus-daemon --system
669 - Ss 0:00.02 /usr/sbin/sshd
672 - Ss 0:24.41 sendmail: accepting connections (sendmail)
675 - Is 0:00.85 sendmail: Queue runner@00:30:00 for /var/spool/clientmqueue (
679 - Is 0:07.66 /usr/sbin/cron -s
719 - Is 0:00.01 /usr/libexec/ftpd -D
744 - Ss 5:53.50 /usr/local/sbin/hald
746 - I 0:00.02 /usr/local/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon
748 - I 0:00.02 /usr/local/lib/polkit-1/polkitd --no-debug
749 - I 0:00.27 hald-runner
785 - S 3:58.36 hald-addon-storage: /dev/cd0 (hald-addon-storage)
90559 - Ss 0:00.02 sshd: req [priv] (sshd)
90562 - S 0:00.01 sshd: req@pts/0 (sshd)
732 v0 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv0
733 v1 Is 0:00.01 login [pam] (login)
6323 v1 I+ 0:00.00 -sh (sh)
734 v2 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv2
735 v3 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv3
736 v4 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv4
737 v5 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv5
738 v6 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv6
739 v7 Is+ 0:00.00 /usr/libexec/getty Pc ttyv7
90563 0 Ss 0:00.01 -sh (sh)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:46PM (2 children)
Sendmail? Jesus, you must be their last remaining user. I'll bet you have an uptime dating to the 90's.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 17 2018, @06:21AM (1 child)
> I'll bet you have an uptime dating to the 90's
I guess so, I see no systemd in PID 1.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Thursday May 17 2018, @01:06PM
It goes deeper than that...
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday May 16 2018, @05:56PM
And your post is powered by Autism. Chill out, "Powered by" is another way of letting people know what background services are running.
And if you follow those turtles all the way down you'll find they're all actually powered by caffeine.
So, you're both wrong!
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:43AM
There is no doubt in my mind that FoxConn employs far more people in China than Apple does in California.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:29AM (1 child)
Dammit. I was going to order one of these phones that didn't use electricity. It looked so sweet. Just mine bitcoins, and the phone never needs to be recharged, no need for batteries or cords or anything. Crap.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by captain normal on Wednesday May 16 2018, @05:29AM
It's powered by buzz words. I guess maybe the bullshit creates enough methane to power a cell phone.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 4, Funny) by mhajicek on Wednesday May 16 2018, @04:42AM
You misunderstand. This phone reverses the process of crypto currency mining, extracting energy in the process.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by Bot on Thursday May 17 2018, @06:25AM
Power is a generic term often unrelated to energy generation.
Debian gives you the power of running processes and manage hardware.
Apache gives you the power of sending lots of js and some actual content to other poor souls.
Sendmail gives somebody else power to penetrate your system.
And so on.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 3, Funny) by tizan on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:57AM (3 children)
It will be powered by cold fusion in your pocket because all this crypto-blockchain mumbo jumbo do use a lot of power.
Anyday now ...since cold fusion was discovered in 1989.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:28AM (1 child)
Much as I agree with you, I don't think you are Powered By any authority to demand something on the internet "stop immediately"
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Wednesday May 16 2018, @12:30PM
Right you are. But unlike, say, Spanish, or French, English isn't governed by an authority. Just the force of people's opinions, for better or worse. I am rarely shy in offering mine, for what it's worth, which admittedly often isn't much.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 16 2018, @04:18AM
I knew it was a documentary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_(1997_film) [wikipedia.org]
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:20AM
Obligatory dilbert
http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-03-12 [dilbert.com]
I for one am excited to see yet another Scott Adams prediction come true.
But to be honest the article reads more like this one...
http://dilbert.com/strip/2018-04-20 [dilbert.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:21AM
"It may not be spam but it's awfully pink and salty."
-- Some guy at Kuro5hin, in response to my article link
It's not linked from my website yet because I'm not done writing it yet.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:48AM (4 children)
So is this something they're doing in collaboration with the Exodus wallet [exodus.io] software, or are they blatantly ripping off their name & good will? The article made it sound like the latter.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:13AM (2 children)
Certainly not the Exodus Foundation [exodusfoundation.org.au]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday May 16 2018, @05:36AM (1 child)
Ah, you have hippies in Oz too?
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday May 16 2018, @07:57AM
Mostly middle-aged cardigan-wearers, these days.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:44AM
Or Gab.ai's "Exodus Protocol" to somehow use the blockchain to make censorship impossible. Everybody is thinking the same "escape" thoughts and colliding in the fairly limited namespace that implies/
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Wednesday May 16 2018, @02:51AM (3 children)
If they will actually make a phone were the person who pays the money actually gets to own it, including getting the lowest level keys, I'm interested. Otherwise, pass.
Offering to unlock the bootloader is a nice gesture from a few vendors to developers, but what if I WANT to lock the phone? Me, not them, not the carrier. An unlocked phone is totally vulnerable to anyone who gets physical possession of it. I want to install my own keys, sign the bootloader and OS image and nobody else gets a copy of the keyring. It can ship with some other keys on the keyring to make initial boot and updates simple but ultimately I want the power to know only my own keys are in there and nobody else's. I understand that they couldn't offer a warranty for loss of access, that is the entire point. Delete their keys and they are out of the picture. They could still offer updates for me to examine, resign and install, just put their normal updates somewhere accessible by a web browser and not just their update util.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @03:11AM
Just get one of the phones that's intended for Android Platform Development. You could load Slackware on it if you're cool to write the necessary drivers.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Wednesday May 16 2018, @05:40AM
I think this is the second time I totally agree with jm. I too want total control on my phone.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @03:39PM
yep. if the user has control, this sounds cool to me. even if it doesn't have the coins i'm interested in i'm glad it's in the market.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 16 2018, @01:29PM
About time someone came up with an alternative. Battery technology has been unable to keep up with phone power requirements ever since the smartphone was invented.