Pundi X, an Indonesian maker of point-of-sale terminals, has unveiled a blockchain-based smartphone alongside a new operating system and communication protocol. The XPhone handles calls, messages, and
Pundi X, an Indonesian maker of point-of-sale terminals, has unveiled a blockchain-based smartphone alongside a new operating system and communication protocol. The XPhone handles calls, messages, and file transfers on blockchain, bypassing traditional telecom carriers. The device runs on Function X, the company's fully decentralized blockchain network still under development.
At the XBlockchain Summit in Bali this week, Pundi X demonstrated the technology by making the first phone call across its Function X operating system.
Pitt Huang, Pundi X's co-founder and CTO, frames the moment in historical terms. "Blockchain is at a similar stage of development to the Internet in the early '90s," Huang told App Developer Magazine. "A new kind of network and decentralized protocol like Function X will be transformational to blockchain as the browser was to the Internet. For a start, it's putting blockchain in the hands of millions via a smartphone and returning control of their data back to them, but it also answers so many other challenges."
Huang sees technical frontiers opening up. "The possibilities for decentralized data storage and transmission are limitless. Decentralization is the core of blockchain technology, and the new protocol for truly decentralized data transmission reflects Pundi X's belief that everything should flow from this core philosophy."
Function X rests on five components: Function X OS, Function X Blockchain, Function X IPFS, FXTP Protocol, and Function X Docker. Each one serves the same purpose: decentralizing all apps, websites, communications, and data. The operating system is built on Android 9.0 and supports all current Android applications.
Every device on the Function X network becomes a node with its own address and private key, each tied to a unique node name.
Zac Cheah, the company's CEO and co-founder, believes that offering users a choice to operate independent from centralized communications networks creates new uses for blockchain that mainstream consumers can appreciate and adopt. "This will have considerable implications for the future of blockchain and give life to a network large enough to support better scale, throughput, new potential applications and true decentralisation that has so far eluded blockchain," Cheah said.
Pundi X plans to launch Function X Blockchain, FXTP, IPFS, and the XPhone in Q2 2019. Additional details will arrive on October 15.
Other companies are pursuing blockchain phones. HTC is working on one. Sirin Labs, a cryptocurrency startup, is also developing a blockchain-based device.
