Remember Turing Robotic Industries? This ambitious tech firm created the unique-looking Turning Phone a few years back that combined incredibly a strong 'liquid metal' frame with enhanced digital security. It was also available in one of the most bling designs we've ever seen.
That was the dream, at least – the project was beset by problems from the start, suffering from numerous delays, a change of OS (from Android to the almost-unknown Sailfish) and eventually limping to market with a myriad of issues, such as hardware faults and questionable build quality. Only a few thousand units made it into the hands of buyers, and Turing has been looking for a route back into the market ever since – it even went as far as rebranding itself to Turing Space Industries.
After a failed revival which would have features some of the most powerful phones ever made, the company has announced the HubblePhone, a multi-screen behemoth which is available in three different models and is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 855 – a chipset which is sure to dominate 2019.
The three HubblePhone models are HubblePhone K3-XR Copernicus (available December 2019), HubblePhone K3-XR Cassini (April 2020) and HubblePhone K3-XR Herschel (July 2020). Each will run the same basic software and will be powered by the aforementioned Snapdragon 855, but there will be differences.
The base Copernicus version will come with 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 12000mAh battery, while the Cassini will feature not one but two Snapdragon 855 chipsets, as well as two lots of 8GB RAM, 256GB of storage space and a 16000mAh battery. The most expensive version – the Herschel – will boast a whopping three Snapdragon 855 chipsets (with 10GB of RAM each) and three lots of 512GB storage, while its battery will be 22000mAh in capacity. All phones will have 5G functionality.
Turing is opening a pre-order campaign on December 13th which is as unique as the phone themselves:
"TSI has created a crypto token named HubbleCard Token (token symbol: HUBB); each outstanding HUBB will have an equivalent USDT reserved in TSI's crypto off-line wallet for a quarterly audit by a trustworthy independent 3rd party entity. USDT is a stablecoin created by Tether which is pegged to the US dollar. HUBB is a new stablecoin derivative in which each outstanding token is backed by a specific stablecoin which is pegged to a fiat currency. In this case HUBB is pegged to Tether's USDT. 1 HUBB ≈ 1 USDT ≈ 1 US Dollar"
The Copernicus will cost 1850 HUBB ($1850 / £1454), the Copernicus 2750 HUBB ($2750 / £2160) and the Herschel 4250 ($4250 / £3343). Those are eye-watering prices, and we can imagine that many people who previously backed the Turing Phone may be somewhat sceptical about handing over all that cash without seeing the finished product – however, we assume the unique crypto-currency pre-order system means that you'll still be able to get your money back even if the phone never makes it to market; you're buying pre-order 'Hubble Cards' which only need to be activated when the phone is ready for shipping.
Despite the craziness of the whole concept, it's nice that someone within the smartphone sector is at least trying to do something new in terms of design; the HubblePhone will boast three screens which can be used simultaneously, with a focus HD video recording and editing on-the-fly.
by dmcferran via Featured Articles
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