Phil Zimmermann and pals tout anti-snoop device - the Blackphone
Dubbed Blackphone, and featured in the video above, the handset runs a hardened version of Android called PrivatOS that has been developed by Phil Zimmermann and Jon Callas, formerly of PGP. The mobe can make standard phone calls, but will include Silent Circle's apps to encrypt messages and voice and video chat, plus secure file sharing and anonymized VPN sessions.
"Phil always wanted to do encrypted voice – he did PGPfone over 15 years ago – but that was before mass-market mobile phones," Callas told The Register. "Now we're doing a security enhanced phone that in price will be competitive with high-end smartphones and less expensive than an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy."
The full details of the new phone will be revealed at the trade show Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, and available to order from February 24. The final handset will launch in late spring or early summer. The company itself will be based in Switzerland due to that country's strict privacy rules.
