TweetShare
CCN spoke with Nimrod May to find out if SIRIN will continue making phones or focus on developing an OS. May also gave a side-by-side comparison of the SIRIN FINNEY and the HTC Exodus 1.
SIRIN Labs launched its blockchain smartphone, the FINNEY, just a few weeks ago. In the middle of a cryptocurrency market crisis, SIRIN’s plans hit the spotlight and led some to question if the $158 million ICO would abandon its plans to make cryptocurrency-friendly phones and concentrate instead on the SIRIN operating system (SIRIN OS).
Recent reporting by some news outlets suggested that the fall in price of Ether (ETH) since SIRIN’s ICO meant the company now had less available capital and would struggle to meet its initial goals of becoming both a phone and OS maker. That’s since been clarified and SIRIN Labs is committed to making its own blockchain smartphones AND ALSO exploring the market for its SIRIN OS with other phone-makers. May hinted at some of the big-name manufacturers SIRIN has been in talks with.
SIRIN’s CEO Moshe Hogeg revealed recently that mobile phone distributors had committed to 160,000 units of the FINNEY phone, though this figure needs to translate into actual sales, SIRIN only has to sell around 80,000 phones to become profitable.
CCN questioned May, Chief Marketing Officer for SIRIN Labs, to get to the bottom of the company’s plans once and for all.
How are sales of the FINNEY phone going? What is SIRIN’s attitude to “crypto-winter” and what steps are you taking to combat market concerns?
Even with the current market situation, we’re actually proud to share with the world some of the interest we have received since our launch two weeks ago. We’re proud to say we have surpassed our FINNEY™ devices sales goal for the entire year in less than 10 days, and right now are focusing on mass producing the first ten thousand units to meet the demands of our community, distributors, and partners.
What’s happening right now with SIRIN OS? Is it ready to roll out as a standalone OS? Do you have any takers?
We at SIRIN LABS have strong faith in crypto and blockchain and are proud to provide the consumer facing solution that will act as a gate to crypto. FINNEY™ is the optimum platform and ecosystem to use and manage crypto on the go, through the first ultra-secure Android platform.
SIRIN OS™’ proprietary technology is the best operating system that is compatible with other devices as well, in efforts to bridge the gap across consumer electronic companies and to benefit the millions of crypto holders all over the world.
We built SIRIN OS™ to fit all phone manufacturers and indeed we’re not alone in this field: Huawei, HTC, and other OEMs alike are moving along; some of them have been in talks with us regarding SIRIN OS™. Overall it seems like this is just the beginning of our path.
We’re a group of enthusiastic and highly skilled engineers who understand the market, are an active part of it, and know what needs to be done in order to serve the needs of the market in real time. As a result, we’re now speeding up the process of accepting Fiat in our Token Conversion Service to create a more comprehensive solution for our users and to show the world that the need for a blockchain phone goes beyond what the crypto market is experiencing right now.
What are SIRIN’s plans for the next 6-12 months and what are your expectations for the cryptocurrency market in 2019?
Our plan for 2019 is to focus on the delivery of FINNEY™ worldwide, fostering more partnerships, continuing the development of SIRIN OS™.
HTC has released the Exodus 1 at the same time as the SIRIN FINNEY. How do you believe the phones compare?
May kindly provided SIRIN’s side-by-side comparison of FINNEY™ to the HTC EXODUS 1.
General
HTC Exodus 1
FINNEY U1
Launched market
US, Canada
Worldwide
Form factor
Touchscreen
Touchscreen
Battery capacity (mAh)
3500
3280
Fast charging
Proprietary
Qualcomm Quickcharge 4.0
Wireless charging
No
No
Display
Screen size (inches)
6
6
Touchscreen
Yes
Yes
Aspect ratio
18:09
18:09
Pixels per inch (PPI)
402
402
Hardware
Processor
octa-core
octa-core
Processor make
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
RAM
6GB
6GB
Internal storage
128GB
128GB
Expandable storage
Yes
Yes
Expandable storage type
microSD
microSD
Expandable storage up to (GB)
2
2
Camera
Rear camera
12-megapixel + 16-megapixel
12-megapixel (f/1.8)
Front camera
8-megapixel + 8-megapixel
8-megapixel (f/2.2)
Rear autofocus
–
Laser autofocus
Rear flash
–
Yes
Software
Operating system
Android Oreo
Android Oreo
Skin
HTC
Sirin OS
Connectivity
Wi-Fi
Yes
Yes
GPS
Yes
Yes
Bluetooth
Yes, v 5.00
Yes, v 5.00
Number of SIMs
1
1
Wi-Fi standards supported
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
NFC
Yes
Yes
Sensors
Proximity sensor
Yes
Yes
Accelerometer
Yes
Yes
Ambient light sensor
Yes
Yes
Gyroscope
Yes
Yes
Sim 1
SIM Type
Nano-SIM
Nano-SIM
HW Wallet
Type
Software
True Cold Storage
Solution
TrustZone / Trusted UI
MCU + Secure Element + FPGA + Secondary Display
Blockchain Features
Tokens
Bitcoin, Ethereum, ERC20 (25 tokens), and ERC721
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, ERC721
Dapp Store
No
dCENTER
Token Conversion
No
Yes
Cyber Protection
Features
–
IPS, IDS
Hardened OS
No
Yes
CCN also attended the FINNEY’s release party in Barcelona, Spain, in late November and was able to spend some hands-on time with the SIRIN FINNEY. CCN was able to take a close look at the blockchain phone with its safe-screen and native cryptocurrency cold-storage wallet, native cryptocurrency exchange, decentralized application (dApp) store, and Android-based SIRIN OS.
The HTC Exodus 1 was demonstrated in early December at Slush 2018 in Helsinki, Finland. CCN is also talking to HTC’s Phil Chen for his insight on the market, HTC’s plans, and the performance of the Exodus 1 so far.
Get Exclusive Crypto Analysis by Professional Traders and Investors on Hacked.com. Sign up now and get the first month for free. Click here.
