The Boss Phone is a monster of a smartphone that promises to keep your data safe

By Williams Pelegrin January 6, 2015

Boss Phone — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Considering today’s climate, it’s no wonder that companies are beginning to use security as a huge selling point for their devices. In that sense, startup Briggs & Spriggs, Inc. is no different, as the company’s Boss Phone’s raison d’être is all about security and privacy.

According to the company, development on the mammoth 7-inch smartphone began when David Briggs tried to upload a YouTube video, and failed, while attending his brother’s wedding in Turkey. Briggs concocted the idea of integrating a geographically anonymous operating system, in this case being The Onion Router (Tor), with a cellular device. Thus, the Boss Phone was born.

Of course, the first thing people will notice is that aforementioned 7-inch display, which packs a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. That should be enough for most folks, but that gargantuan display is sure to be a huge turnoff. Look past the display, and you’ll find a kitted-out smartphone that, thanks to it being Tor-certified, brings secure communication.

The Boss Phone is powered by a Mediatek octa-core processor, which helps run Android 5.0 Lollipop. While you’ll get 16GB of internal storage, it is expandable through the MicroSD card slot. Pictures can be taken with the 8-megapixel camera on the rear and 2-megapixel camera on the front, with the 3,000mAh battery likely to keep the phone chugging all day.

Finally, since the Boss Phone throws in Tor at the root level, Briggs & Spriggs promises the handset provides increased security in every aspect.

For now, the easiest way to snag a Boss Phone is through its Indiegogo campaign, which has a $150,000 goal. The handset’s price starts at $275 for the “first responders,” with the price going all the way up to $355. If the campaign is funded, the Boss Phone should ship sometime in October 2015.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Williams Pelegrin

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Williams is an avid New York Yankees fan, speaks Spanish, resides in Colorado, and has an affinity for Frosted Flakes. Send…

Mobile

If you have one of these apps on your Android phone, delete it immediately

The app drawer on the Google Pixel 8 Pro.

The NSO Group raised security alarms this week, and once again, it’s the devastatingly powerful Pegasus malware that was deployed in Jordan to spy on journalists and activists. While that’s a high-profile case that entailed Apple filing a lawsuit against NSO Group, there’s a whole world of seemingly innocuous Android apps that are harvesting sensitive data from an average person’s phone.
The security experts at ESET have spotted at least 12 Android apps, most of which are disguised as chat apps, that actually plant a Trojan on the phone and then steal details such as call logs and messages, remotely gain control of the camera, and even extract chat details from end-to-end encrypted platforms such as WhatsApp.
The apps in question are YohooTalk, TikTalk, Privee Talk, MeetMe, Nidus, GlowChat, Let’s Chat, Quick Chat, Rafaqat, Chit Chat, Hello Chat, and Wave Chat. Needless to say, if you have any of these apps installed on your devices, delete them immediately.
Notably, six of these apps were available on the Google Play Store, raising the risk stakes as users flock here, putting their faith in the security protocols put in place by Google. A remote access trojan (RAT) named Vajra Spy is at the center of these app's espionage activities.

A chat app doing serious damage

Mobile

I used a new type of smartphone that could replace Android

Two phones running Apostrophy OS, sitting next to each other on a chair.

When you buy a phone today, your first decision is to decide which operating system you want: Android or iOS. We've seen other platforms come and go over the years, from Windows Phone to Palm OS, but Android and iOS remain your two sole choices in 2024.

One of the last things I saw at CES 2024 earlier this month was a smartphone operating system that's trying to be that third choice between Android and iOS. It's called Apostrophy OS (also referred to as AphyOS), and I got to play around with it while also chatting with Apostrophy CEO Steve Cistulli to learn about the could-be Android and iOS alternative.
What is Apostrophy OS?

Mobile

How to factory reset an Apple iPhone and clear all your data

iPhone with Reset options Feat image.

Sooner or later, you will have to completely wipe your iPhone memory — whether it's to clear it of personal data before selling it or just to refresh it for better performance. When that happens, a factory reset is a useful, though nuclear, option. When you're done, you will have what amounts to a brand new iPhone.

To reset your iPhone, click on Settings> General> Transfer or Reset iPhone> Erase All Content and Settings.