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The HTCExodus is a blockchain-powered smartphone. But why?
- HTC today dropped a surprise announcement: it will release a blockchain-powered smartphone called the HTCExodus.
- The company will create a blockchain network where each HTCExodus will act as a node.
- However, it’s not clear what the HTCExodus can do that any other smartphone on the market can’t already.
Today, HTC made a surprise announcement, via The Next Web: it is working on a device called the HTCExodus that will be powered by blockchain technology. The phone will feature a universal crypto wallet and will support decentralized applications (DApps).
The phone’s development is in the hands of Phil Chen, the creator of the virtual reality headset the HTC Vive. Chen’s new title is Chief Decentralized Officer, and he will be in charge of all decentralization efforts at HTC.
The HTCExodus will act as a node in a new native blockchain network that HTCis developing now. Using the HTCExodus on the HTCblockchain network, users will be able to trade cryptocurrency for free. HTCis even mulling over the idea of accepting cryptocurrency as a method of payment for the Exodus itself.
However, no pricing information for the HTCExodus is available as of yet. Another blockchain-powered smartphone – the Finney, made by SIRIN LABS Labs – is slated to cost $1,000.
The real question is this: what will the HTCExodus (or any blockchain-powered phone, for that matter) offer that a regular smartphone can’t already? You can trade crypto with a regular smartphone; you can run DApps; and you can run privacy-oriented browsers. While you can trade specific cryptocurrency for free on something like the HTCExodus, you’re still going to have to pay mining fees for crypto like Bitcoin, regardless of the type of phone you use.
I guess the idea of having cold-storage for your crypto right on your phone will be enough for crypto-nuts to want to buy a blockchain-powered device. But for regular folks, no company is really pushing what benefits a blockchain-powered device has over any other smartphone currently on the market.
Could it possibly be that the HTCExodus is a novelty phone designed by a company in dire straits as a last-ditch effort to reclaim relevance in the market? It’s certainly a possibility.
We’ll have to wait and see what features HTCpushes with the Exodus. Maybe it has something in mind that we haven’t thought of yet. Time will tell.
What do you think? Is a blockchain-powered smartphone something you need in your life? Let us know in the comments!
NEXT: The Finney blockchain phone will have flagship specs – but who is it for?