Turing is partnering with a company that actually sells phones

The Turing Phone didn’t make it to the mainstream market, mostly due to multiple delays and course changes by its manufacturer, Turing Robotics Industries (TRI). It was not exactly a phone for everyone, but it was welcomed pretty well in its early stages, getting over 10,000 reservations before launch. However, TRI failed to deliver on its promises and further complicated things by announcing new versions of the device and abruptly switching to Sailfish OS from Android.

So, giving the company the benefit of the doubt, what’s next from Turing Robotic Industries?

We have been asking ourselves the same question for some time, wondering if they would even hit the market in a meaningful way. It turns out TRI is giving it another try, and this time they are not alone. TRI has just announced a partnership with TCL to manufacture the next Turing Phone, the Android-powered Appassionato.

The partnership with TCL could prove to be beneficial for a small company like Turing. After all, TCL has ample experience building Alcatel, BlackBerry and its own products. They also rank among the world’s top ten phone makers and sell products all over the planet.

TRI and TCL are not saying much about the upcoming phone, but they do mention a few features. They are going back to fancy metals by making the Appassionato (meaning “full of passion” in Italian) with liquidmorphium, an alloy created with zirconium, copper, aluminum, nickel and silver.

The device will feature “amplified intelligence” (otherwise known as artificial intelligence). It will be able to make smart decisions by learning from your actions and habits, aided by human input. Expect some sort of concierge service called “Sir ALAN,” though the amount of buzzwords in TRI’s press release makes us worried.

The Turing Appassionato will feature a Snapdragon 820 processor and run Android 7.1.1. The promised shipping date is by September 2017, but the price is not exactly affordable. Two versions will be available: an “elite” version selling for $1,099 and a “premium-luxury” version that will cost no less than $1599. Even with TCL’s manufacturing and operational expertise on its side, given Turing’s spotty track record, we can’t recommend pre-ordering this device.

Let us know your thoughts!