It’s 2022 and blockchain smartphones nonetheless make no sense

Most individuals will agree that the smartphone trade is in determined want of disruption. Exterior of the foldable market, we’ve seen little or no by way of innovation and have differentiation over latest years. So when a younger startup with a pedigreed crew proclaims that it’s constructing a smartphone to problem that established order, it’s arduous to not get a little bit bit excited.

That’s precisely what occurred after we first heard in regards to the privacy-focused OSOM OV1 smartphone final yr. In case you’re unfamiliar with the OSOM model, it’s a brand new startup established by former Important workers.

Earlier this week, we lastly bought to study extra in regards to the OSOM OV1, which has now been delayed to early 2023. The machine options high-end, flagship-grade specs, with a correct $1,000 price ticket to match. In a giant twist, nevertheless, OSOM is not advertising and marketing the OV1 as its personal product. As a substitute, it has partnered with Solana, a blockchain firm.

The Solana Saga, because it’s now referred to as, guarantees to incorporate “distinctive performance and options tightly built-in with the Solana blockchain”. That’s actually a large pivot from OSOM’s preliminary purpose of simply delivering a privateness and security-centric Android smartphone. However does this new focus make any sense? Let’s break it down.

Catch up: What’s blockchain know-how?

What does the Solana Saga hope to perform?

In case you’re questioning what makes the Solana Saga any completely different from earlier area of interest blockchain/cryptocurrency smartphones, it’s not precisely clear. Looking by means of the official web site, you’ll likelihood throughout some selection quotes like “re-imagining web3 for cell” and “eradicating friction for self-custody.” We as soon as heard comparable one-dimensional claims from firms like HTC and Sirin Labs. For sure, these endeavors didn’t succeed.

Fortunately, some additional digging reveals that the corporate has additionally introduced a software program growth package dubbed the Solana Cell Stack. In a nutshell, it affords Android builders the instruments required to construct safe cryptocurrency wallets and Web3 apps. You may consider the stack as just like Google Cell Companies (GMS), however for a far, much more area of interest use case.

Learn extra: What’s Web3 and why is it so controversial?

As you’d count on, the Solana Cell Stack can be pre-installed on each Solana Saga. This may also enable customers to retailer their cryptocurrency pockets keys in a safe enclave on the machine. Notably, this is identical safety mechanism different Android telephones use to safeguard delicate knowledge like fingerprints.

However does the typical cryptocurrency consumer want a devoted blockchain smartphone to facilitate easy transactions? Not likely. You may already use decentralized apps (dApps) on nearly any Android machine, personal NFTs with software program wallets, and make cryptocurrency funds by way of an internet browser. Certain, it’s possible you’ll sacrifice a little bit of safety however no one retains their life’s financial savings on a cell phone anyway.

No matter present choices, CEO Anatoly Yakovenko appears to suppose that Solana has one thing distinctive to supply. In a weblog publish accompanying the Saga’s launch, he wrote:

…On daily basis, I hear tales of individuals leaving dinners, conferences, and holidays to get again to their computer systems and signal vital transactions. The mints, trades, listings, and transfers essential to the each day lifetime of crypto-lovers are dragging us away from our lives with others. The one firms with the sources to materialize the self-custody cell future we’re all dreaming of, Apple and Google, have had no updates to provide on their roadmaps for crypto.

In different phrases, Solana claims that it’ll do what Google and Apple received’t — bake a whole ecosystem of crypto apps and experiences immediately into the cellphone’s software program. Whether or not that’s a good suggestion or not stays to be seen.

See additionally: The most effective cryptocurrency apps

Why blockchain smartphones don’t make sense

If there’s something we all know for positive, it’s that the demand for blockchain smartphones hasn’t actually grown since 2018 when the HTC Exodus first broke cowl. In reality, you would argue that it makes even much less sense now. Web3 and NFTs have grow to be extraordinarily contentious matters as of late and it’s not arduous to see why both. Many imagine that the market is flooded with half-baked and buggy platforms, or worse, utterly fraudulent tasks. And Solana has not managed to flee its share of controversy both.

Dive in: Why do folks say NFTs are dangerous?

Over the previous few months, the Solana blockchain has suffered a number of community outages as a consequence of a wide range of software program glitches, stopping customers from transacting for so long as 18 hours. For a lot of, the attraction of blockchain know-how hinges on transparency, reliability, and decentralization. Solana hasn’t managed to ship on these fronts to this point and has attracted loads of criticism for that.

Preserving all of this in thoughts, it’s arduous to see a state of affairs the place the Solana Saga succeeds over different $1,000 smartphones. The Galaxy S22 collection not solely competes in the identical worth vary but additionally affords Samsung’s long-established Blockchain Keystore. The latter means that you can securely retailer cryptocurrency and interface with decentralized apps, not too far off from Solana’s pitch. It’s additionally cryptocurrency-agnostic so that you aren’t certain to Solana or any explicit blockchain.

Again in 2018, we opined that the Sirin Finney smartphone (pictured above) didn’t make a lot sense at its $1,000 price ticket. Have we come full circle simply 4 years later with the Solana Saga? Solely time will inform.