With whistleblowers rising and the knowledge that the
government is spying on the people, privacy of the public is in danger. Every
call, message or email you send is being tracked and people’s privacy is
completely violated. In light of telecommunication snooping various public
protests have been carried out and many companies have popped up offering
secure communication channels.
One of the reputed Spanish companies Geeksphone partnered
with U.S. security oriented company Silent Circle has achieved this security in
its pro-privacy smartphone called as Blackphone.
The device runs on a modified version of Android core.
Various default behaviors and security flaws in of Android have been dealt with
and the new OS called PrivatOS is used. Some additional performance
improvements have been made as well.
The updates for the phone are available directly from the
company and the carrier provider plays no part in the updates as security
vulnerabilities are dealt with immediately by the company.
The blackphone device will be powered with the Nvidia
tegra 4i chip which makes it the first device to be shipped with this chip
despite its launch last year.
The other prominent features include an ARM Cortex-A9 r4
quad-core CPU which is clocked at 2GHz, a ‘battery-saver core’ for low-power
tasks, 60 custom GPU cores, music and video playback, and also an integrated
i500 LTE modem that supports GSM, HSPA+/WCDMA, and LTE on enough bands to cover
almost all of the world.
It also sports an 8-megapixel primary camera with flash
and a 5-megapixel secondary camera for video chat – the latter was upgraded
from the original prototype’s 1.3-megapixel hardware.
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SPECIFICATIONS:
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Blackphone model name
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BP1
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OS platform
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PrivatOS (based on Android™ 4.4
(KitKat))
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SIM slot
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Single micro-SIM
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Hardware platform
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NVIDIA Tegra 4i
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CPU frequency
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2.0 GHz
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Memory
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16GB expandable + 1GB intenal
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MicroSD card
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Yes
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LCD
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4.7" IPS HD display having
1280*720 resolution
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Touch
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Capacitive
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Camera rear
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8MP AF (Flash LED)
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Camera front
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5MP FF
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Wi-Fi
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802.11b/g/n
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Bluetooth
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4.0 LE
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GPS
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Yes
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Battery capacity
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2000mA
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Connectors
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3.5mm audio jack, micro USB
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Sensors
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Gravity sensor, light sensor,
proximity sensor, magnetic sensor
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The activation wizard of this device gives the user a short introduction about the Blackphone’s privacy based philosopies. It then moves onto the set-up processes. This requires the
users to initialize a PIN or password that secures the device. The users will be notified as to
the degree of security of their selected password.
Next, the encryption option is made available so that the user
can secure the local data stored on the phone. The password for this encryption
is the the
PIN/password the user previously entered.
Also many companies carry out Wi-Fi tracking of the mobile devices which helps them to identify people that repeatedly visit particular locations. However
this is violation of privacy for the mobile users, therefore Blackphone comes with a technology that knows when and where to turn off Wi-Fi to protect the users’ privacy.
NVIDIA TEGRA 4i:
While the main focus of this entire project is centered on the uncompromising
privacy and providing
user control,
Blackphone's choice of using Tegra 4i recognizes NVIDIA's capacity to fulfil the specifications of this
unique device and thereby meet its demanding performance requirements.
Along with world-class components and
materials, NVIDIA Tegra 4i delivers on Blackphone's undertaking of eliminating previous generation’s trade-offs and faults between accessibility, privacy, encryption usability and performance.
PrivatOS:
This
device that focusses on security also has a great hardware and will be run by a
new build of PrivatOS which is SGP's custom Android fork. This OS is based on the
latest Android (4.4) "KitKat" which also has integrated support for
the Silent Circle's encrypted video, voice and text messaging. It also has
anonymous browsing alongwith mobile VPN support by Disconnect. It also comes
with a secure cloud storage by SpiderOak.
Powered
by PrivatOS, Blackphone is publicized as a carrier and vendor-independent
smartphone. It allows consumers and businesses to make and receive secure phone
calls, transfer and store files, exchange secure texts, and have video chats without negotiating with the privacy of the device.
OTHER PACKAGES:
Blackphone
ships unlocked and has several features with pre-installed privacy tools. All
these tools are completely enabled fo atleast 2 years of usage.
These
tools include the complete array of Silent Circle suite of apps. The apps like Silent
Phone, Silent Contacts, and Silent Text are a part of it. Blackphone also ships
with the Smart WiFi Manager and a powerful remote-wipe and device recovery
tool.
Also
secure cloud file storage is provided by SpiderOak. The SpiderOak Blackphone
Edition offers a 250% increase in security, and zero-knowledge cloud storage
capacity.
Blackphone
also gives you 3 separate 1-year 'Friends and Family' subscriptions for the
Silent Circle suite. This means that every Blackphone user has the ability to
speak securely with his/her trusted friends and family irrespective of whether
they are Apple or Android users.
Conclusion:
The future intention is for Blackphone to
incorporate the open source encrypted messaging protocol currently being
developed by Lavabit — under the Dark Mail banner (Silent Circle is a
founder member of the Dark Mail alliance).
Silent Circle’s products have
always found a user base
and with the reports
on the extent of U.S. and U.K. government surveillance and information sharing
more people are now
prompted to consider privacy.
However security can be described
as a spectrum — and said the level of privacy protection Blackphone affords its
users is far greater than what the average smartphone user can expect.
This amazing Android-powered smartphone puts privacy and control directly in the hands of its users. The device can be
ordered from Blackphones website- https://www.blackphone.ch.
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