New $629 hyper-secure Blackphones were shipped today to people who pre-ordered the Android-based smartphones with beefed up security features.
The Blackphone was developed through a joint venture of Silent Circle and Geeksphone, known as SGP Technologies and features anonymous search and browsing, automatic disabling of non-trusted WiFi hotspots, encrypted calls and file transfer capabilities and private cloud storage.
SGP CEO Toby Weir-Jones said, “We are excited to achieve this key milestone on schedule and ship a remarkable device to customers that is the result of an unprecedented combination of privacy and mobile innovations and visionaries.
“Blackphone’s arrival puts mobile privacy directly in the hands of professionals and consumers everywhere. In a world where devices and apps increasingly offer features only in return for users’ personal or sensitive information, the pent-up demand for Blackphone shows there is strong, international demand for our brand’s devices and services that stand apart by placing privacy before all else.”
Silent Circle said it also bundles around $700 of additional security features with Blackphone, which are subscription-free for 24 months. These include Silent Circle’s own application suite, including three subscriptions to give away to friends and family, Spideroak encrypted data backup with 2GB of free storage each month and 1GB per month of free Disconnect storage.
The company didn’t say how many of the Blackphones it shipped but their website proudly announced they were currently sold out.
In this day and age it seems like every time you turn around there are stories about hackers, companies and governments spying on just about everybody so you have to wonder; is it paranoia when people really are spying on you or just common sense?
The Blackphone will be available to order on July 14 on the company’s website here.
