Sirin Labs has rolled out some impressive announcements this year, all centered around the upcoming FINNEY smartphone.
The team’s goal is to make cryptocurrencies more accessible by adding a cold storage wallet and custom Token Conversion Service (TCS) dapp to the device. Users can securely store their cryptocurrencies on the FINNEY and pay for everyday goods and services as easily as they would swipe a credit card.
The technical specs for FINNEY were released in May, with the final design unveiled in mid-July. The stand-out feature is FINNEY’s sliding Safe Screen that displays transaction data on independent firmware to securely authenticate transactions.
FINNEY Basics
FINNEY comes with a 6-inch 18:9 main display powered by a Snapdragon 845 chipset with 128GB of storage and 6GB RAM. The device runs Android 8.1 Oreo with the team’s custom Sirin OS layer that handles blockchain features and dapps.
The cold storage wallet is built into the device and can be accessed by moving a switch on the side. The team has multiple security precautions in place to prevent unauthorized access to the wallet, making it arguably more secure than your average cold storage solution.
The wallet is also impossible to remove from FINNEY, so even if your phone is stolen, your cryptocurrencies cannot be accessed.
TCS will allow Sirin OS users to make cryptocurrency payments using SRN tokens as a conversion intermediary. The process could be as straightforward as scanning a QR code at a restaurant or shop. TCS detects the payment cryptocurrency, converts that to an equivalent currency stored on your device, then completes the payment wirelessly.
Sirin Labs’ FINNEY smartphone is expected to retail for $999 and be released in November 2018.
Safe Screen & Slider
The big feature reveal for FINNEY’s final design is a unique slide-out display that Sirin Labs has dubbed Safe Screen.
Safe Screen operates on dedicated firmware Sirin OS does not have access to. This creates a “figurative bubble” around transactions, allowing users to verify cryptocurrency payments independently of software. Even if the phone was compromised by malware, Safe Screen allows accurate transactions to be made.
Adding the slider display was a necessary design choice, according to Sirin. The team wanted to provide users with a secure display to prevent transaction tampering, but adding that to a smartphone proved to be a challenge. Reducing the main screen’s size or elongating the phone wasn’t workable, and adding a slider to the bottom didn’t feel natural.
Finally, Sirin Labs settled on a top-oriented slider to hold the Safe Screen. Not only does it add functionality to the device, but it gives the smartphone a unique look.
For more information about Sirin Labs and the FINNEY phone, see the team’s official blog. You can also find more pictures of FINNEY’s Safe Screen over at Digital Trends.
