One of the most secure Android phones ever built is now being shipped
If you are looking for one of the most secure smartphones on the market, you will soon have a chance to buy such a device. The Blackphone, made by Geeksphone & Silent Circle, uses an Android build called PrivatOS, a slice of KitKat, which was unveiled in January.
While pre-orders began in February, the phones are just now being sent out to those who were the first to pre-order. The Blackphone will run customers $629 and include a 4.7 inch display, quad-core 2GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 2,000mAh battery. The phone comes unlocked in the US therefore you will need a SIM from AT&T, T-Mobile, or several other wireless carriers that are compatible for GSM, HSPA + and LTE network bands.
As TechCrunch notes, what separates this Android phone from others include:
- Frequent over-the-top security updates;
- Silent Phone and Silent Text for secure, encrypted telephony and messaging;
- Remote wipe feature for contact data;
- User prompts to switch on local data encryption;
- A bundle of third party security-focused services including SpiderOak secure cloud storage, VPN anonymised browsing via Disconnect, and Kismet’s Wi-Fi analyser product.
Over at Ars Technica, several of their writers got a hold of the device and found that the phone was in fact very secure. The only real negatives were the lack of a Google Play store being immediately available and some stability issues.
If users want to still download regular Android apps, they will be able to based on the Blackphone’s analyses which will monitor each individual app’s behaviour.
CommentsncG1vNJzZmivp6x7orrDq6ainJGqwam70aKrsmaTpLpwu82eZKydk6q%2FpnnAp5urp5mZerG0zqecrGWVq7KzecGuoKWsXaO8uHnSoaCpqJWZenSFmGtqbWc%3D