We happen to live in a world where security breaches seem to happen all too often, and with a number of mobile devices that we tote around these days, it also makes plenty of sense to ensure that whatever handset or tablet we carry would come with its fair share of security features. Take the upcoming Android-powered smartphone called the Blackphone for instance, this is a privacy-centric device that is all set to ship in three weeks’ time. The Blackphone happens to be a partnership between Geeksphone as well as Silent Circle, where it was first introduced over at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, and the $629 Blackphone did see a surge in its orders that it just took all of a couple of weeks in order to sell out.
MIT Technology Review Digital Summit — “Blackphone,” a privacy-protecting secure smartphone, is due to ship in three weeks from Silent Circle, a company co-founded by encryption pioneer Phil Zimmermann. The Android-based Blackphone, produced in partnership with Geeksphone, will be available from carriers priced at $629, Silent Circle LLC President Zimmermann said Tuesday at a presentation at the conference here. Silent Circle hopes to see significant demand for its product based on growing awareness of privacy and security, Zimmermann said. “More and more people are waking up to this problem,” he said. “There’s a growing number of people who want to push back.” About 60% of people are willing to give up private information indiscriminately, but that still leaves a big potential market for Blackphone. Silent Circle expects to sell millions of the phones, Zimmermann said. Silent Circle and Geeksphone unveiled the Blackphone at Mobile World Congress in February, and sold out its first batch of several thousand in weeks. FreedomPop also launched a secure phone — nicknamed the “Snowden Phone” — at about the same time. (See Blackphone Unveils Secure Smartphone, FreedomPop Launches ‘Snowden Phone’.)
