Security-oriented Blackphone specifications published

SGP Technologies SA, the Switzerland-based joint venture of Silent Circle and Geeksphone behind Blackphone, announced the specifications of its eagerly awaited privacy-minded handset.

The company has selected the NVIDIA Tegra 4i mobile processor to power Blackphone. Tegra 4i has 60 custom GPU cores; a quad-core CPU based on ARM’s Cortex-A9 r4 CPU, plus a fifth battery-saver core; and an integrated NVIDIA i500 LTE modem.

Blackphone is the first high-end smartphone placing privacy and control directly in the hands of its users – including technologists, executives, public figures and anyone who wants the power of choice over their own information.

Blackphone’s PrivatOS, built on Android, and combined with a full suite of privacy-enabled applications, allows users to regain control over their communications activities.

Coupled with Tegra 4i’s capabilities, Blackphone’s design offers stunning video displays and app multi-tasking to enhanced battery life, in addition to signature features such as private encrypted voice and video calls and text messaging with attachments from Silent Circle, anonymous browsing and mobile VPN protection from Disconnect and private encrypted cloud storage from SpiderOak.

As part of today’s announcement, updated technical specifications for Blackphone have been released:

Blackphone went on sale February 24, 2014 with the phone’s launch at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and quickly sold out the first pre-sale run.

Final component and production specifications are currently being finalized and devices are scheduled to ship to customers and carrier distributors in the EU and Americas in June 2014.