14 DAY TRIAL // The privacy-focused Blackphone sparked a lot of interest, promising users a secure, worry-free user experience most bug-exposed mobile devices today can’t offer.
The Blackphone was announced as the first high-end smartphone that would focus mainly on privacy and security. Most importantly, the handset allows users to directly control the device’s settings.
The Geeksphone Blackphone ships out to consumers with PrivatOS loaded on top, which is a tweaked version of Android, packed with a series of privacy-enabled applications.
But even as the device started heading out to adopters not so long ago, the company behind the spy-free smartphone has already developed plans of breaching out.
After the Blackphone comes the Blacktablet
Talking to BBC, Jon Callas – co-founder of Silent Circle (that works with Geeksphone in order to produce the handset) – said that “we are going to have a tablet soon.”
On top of that, he gave a few hints that alternate versions of the Blackphone might be in the works and that it will also offer encrypted calls, text messages and extra protection while browsing the web.
So why a tablet? Well, despite selling quite well, the creators of the Blackphone have realized the smartphone has limited appeal. So the introduction of a tablet (plus several other handset models) might spice things up a little bit.
But we’re not so sure, a tablet taking advantage of the same ultra-safe capabilities would spark more interest in consumers. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens when the slate actually becomes a reality.
The tablet will probably be built in conformity with the smartphone and will offer access to a limited numbers of apps which are deemed secure.
The Blackphone has a limited app ecosystem
For example, you can’t go on social media or play games, something which might not appeal to many mobile consumers, unless they are trying really hard to keep their contact details safe and their network devoid of intruders.
For the time being we’re not given any technical specifications related to the tablet, so we can assume the slate is either a prototype or still in experimental stage.
The Blackphone specs include a 4.7-inch touchscreen display with 720p, a Tegra 4 processor fitted with 1GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory.
The handset also consists of an 8MP camera on the back with autofocus and LED flash plus a 5MP frontal one for making video phone calls while on the go. PrivatOS is based on Android 4.4 KitKat.
Anyway, keep checking back with us for more news of the upcoming “Blacktablet.”