Turing Robotic Industries, a company you’ve probably never heard of, has announced a smartphone. To make it stand out, the device is not only super strong, it’s also super secure. Which is exactly what many people want in these uncertain times, filled as they are by whistle-blowers, leakers, and data thefts.
It’s called the Turing Phone, and it’ll provide secure end-to-end encryption using decentralized authentication, a fingerprint sensor, and direct secure communication between two Turing Phones. In an interview, the company boasted the device is virtually impossible to hack. Visit the company’s information-sparse website, and you’re greeted with an image reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, and some talk about the device “redefining what it means to be secure.”
Additionally, we’re told the device is going to be the world’s first liquid metal smartphone, and be made from something called Liquidmorphium. Apparently, this is stronger than titanium and steel, unbendable, and resistant to shock. The body work is also made from aluminum and ceramic elements. While impressive, it all sounds a little too sci-fi to be real.
However, the Turing Phone’s specs are more down to earth. According to reports, a Snapdragon 801 processor with 3GB of RAM will power the modified version of Android 5.0 OS, and the 5.5-inch screen will have a 1080p resolution. Up to 128GB of internal storage space will be inside the phone, and a 13-megapixel rear camera will be joined by an 8-megapixel front cam. Although we doubt the paranoid will be up for taking selfies, just in case of any security breaches.
The design has been shown off in some impressive-looking renders, which remind us of the failed Ubuntu Edge phone which didn’t quite make its outrageous crowd-funding goal last year. The Turing Phone already has a distant (and therefore probably tentative) release date — August 10. The price? $740 for the 64GB model and a massive $870 for the 128GB Turing Phone.
What about the mysterious company, TRI, behind the Turing Phone? It’s funded by Lugee Li, the CEO of Chinese company EONTEC, which produces the liquid metal used to construct the Turing Phone. The CEO of Turing is S.Y.L. Chao. We’re confirming if this is Steve Chao, who headed up smartphone manufacturer QSAlpha which pushed a phone called the Quasar IV in 2013. Coincidentally the Quasar IV was also a super-secure Android device, and boasted a very similar design to the Turing Phone. Except it didn’t reach its crowd-funding goal on Indiegogo, and is apparently no more.
We’ll keep you updated about the Turing Phone, and when it goes up for preorder.
