After the release of the original Blackphone, Silent Circle, the company that has dedicated itself in preserving the privacy of the owner by safeguarding their smartphones with better security has announced the successor of the Blackphone, the Blackphone 2.
The Blackphone 2 was not the only device put on display at the 2015 Mobile World Congress because a tablet running the same robust security platform has been announced alongside the smartphone and has been named the Blackphone+.
The company has made some significant changes in order to raise the bar of its offerings, particularly when it comes to the hardware specifications of the Blackphone 2. The smartphone will possess a 5 inch screen that will be resonating a 1080p display. The device will be powered by an octa-core processor and 3 GB of RAM, which is marginally better compared to the original Blackphone, which possessed a 4.7 inch 720p display, 2 GB of RAM and a 2 GHz quad-core CPU.
Both the Blackphone 2 and the Blackphone+ will be running an upgraded secure mobile platform that is a modification of Google's Android operating system. It has not been revealed which update both devices will be running, but it is possible that they both will be running Lollipop 5.0, since it provides more security features, not to mention a killswitch. The modified mobile operating system is called the PrivatOS, and runs a number of applications designed to protect users while they are browsing the internet.
The smartphone will also be equipped with a 3,060 mAh battery, a microSD slot for expandable storage proposes and an LTE modem. The device has been priced at $649, which is slightly higher compared to the $629 price the original Blackphone was stamped with. According to GSMArena, co-founder and Silent Circle chairman Mike Janke had stated at the event that:
"Never before have private citizens been under barrage from world governments -- hacking, vacuuming, and chipping away at our privacy."
As for the Blackphone+ tablet, it features a 7 inch screen and is running Qualcomm's undisclosed chipset. Additional details of both devices will be made available once they near their official launch date, which is expected to be later this year.
