The secure phone market is expanding as of late

Mar 4, 2015 09:15 GMT  ·  By

The privacy-focused Blackphone was greeted with a lot of interest from consumers when it launched last year promising a secure, worry-free user experience most bug-sensitive mobile devices can’t hope to offer.

The company behind the product, Silent Circle, is now expanding its product portfolio, and this week at MWC 2015, it has unveiled the next-gen Blackphone 2 and the Blackphone+ tablet, which promise the same highly-secure mobile experience.

Well, it seems Silent Circle is no longer the only startup focusing its efforts on developing a hacker-proof handset.

GranitePhone promises to protect your private data

Sikur, a company hailing from Brazil which was also present this week at MWC 2015, showed its own highly secured handset, the GranitePhone.

Just like the Blackphone, the new GranitePhone runs on a forked version of Android that offers users encrypted messaging services and encrypted phone calls.

Furthermore, it is capable of communicating securely with any Android or iOS device, provided they run the company’s software.

The phone is also locked down, so other software can’t be installed. But that will very much limit the functionality of the handset. However, if you’re security-oriented, you won’t mind so much.

Sikur knows the GranitePhone isn't for everybody, but it still expects to ship out 150,000 units in 2015.

At MWC 2015, the company demoed their software on a Nexus 5 smartphone, but they are striving to produce their own products by partnering up with a manufacturing company.

The GranitePhone is currently under development

When the finalized product arrives on the market, we can expect a 5-inch device with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution (445 ppi), a Snapdragon 800 processor and at least 2GB of RAM on board.

The phone will rely on a 2300 mAh battery said to be good for up to 17 hours of intense talk time.

The company is also working towards a secure browser and a dedicated app store.

The GranitePhone is said to work as your normal phone would over a Wi-Fi network. However, if two GranitePhone users are engaged in a conversation, they can make encrypted “crypto calls.”

The handset will be sold in the US, Brazil, Colombia and Chile, and maybe in some territories from the Middle East too.

Details about the pricing specifications of the GranitePhone haven't been revealed yet, but we’ll probably find out more as the development of the phone advances.

Watch out Blackphone, some stiff competition is coming your way.

GranitePhone is a secure phone (6 Images)

GranitePhone is a secure handset
GranitePhone is a shielded smartphoneGranitePhone offers secure chat
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