Over the course of the last 36 months Boeing has been developing what it calls Black, a super secure smartphone. Running on an Android platform, the tamper-resistant phone has the ability to access multiple cell networks and will operate on the WCDMA, GSM and LTE frequency bands.
Measuring in at 13.2x6.9cm (5.2”x2.7”) wide the Black is slightly larger than the Apple’s iPhone and is nearly twice as thick. Through the use of hardware encryption and configurable inhibit controls the device, its data and any information that it transmits are more secure than through any civilian cellphone. In fact, according to the aerospace giant’s FCC filings the phone isn’t only protected from electronic snooping, but physical hacking as well. “[T]he Boeing Black phone is manufactured as a sealed device both with epoxy around the casing and with screws, the heads of which are covered with tamper proof covering to identify attempted disassembly," read the FCC documents.
Boeing continues, "Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable."
According to Boeing, the Black smartphone will only be available to government and military agencies with no plans of a public release. Given that Boeing is only selling the device directly I imagine they’ll be sticking to their word on that one. I mean, have you ever dropped by a Boeing retail shop?
All joking aside though, I wonder if Boeing’s Black will become a model off of which consumer oriented handset manufacturers will base future products. If so, people might finally have a solution for the anxiety created by last year’s spying revelation.
Image and Video Courtesy of Boeing