Boeing announces Black, a self-destructing, encrypted Android smartphone

If you thought Snapchat’s self-destructing pictures were cool, wait till you get a load of this. US company Boeing has unveiled a new smartphone that appears to come straight from a James Bond spy movie.   In addition to encrypting your communication over the phone, any attempt to open the casing of the Boeing Black smartphone deletes all data and rendering the device inoperable. The secure phone marks an extension of the communications arm of the Chicago-based aerospace and defense contractor, which is best known for jetliners and fighter planes.   Made in the US, the phone runs on Google’s Android. The 5.2-by-2.7-inch (13.2-by-6.9 cm) handset, slightly larger than an iPhone, uses dual SIM cards to enable it to access multiple cell networks instead of a single network like a normal cellphone. “The 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. 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,” the company said.   The self-destructing phone contains a rather small 1590mAh battery and is quite chunky looking from the renders Boeing has released. It sports a 4.3-inch 540x960 display of unspecified type and will play nicely with LTE, UMTS, and GSM networks. Customisation is also a major selling point for Boeing Black — the back door can be swapped out for add-on modules such as satellite radio, expanded battery packs, solar chargers, precise GPS receivers, secure discrete radio channels, biometric scanners, etc. The Black also sports a PDMI port that combines USB, audio, power, HDMI, and DisplayPort output in one connection. You will also find a a standard USB port for data and charging, along with a microSD slot.   An unspecified dual-core 1.2Ghz ARM Cortex-A9 processor is ticking within. Due to the phone’s security features, Boeing is releasing few details about the wireless network operators or manufacturer it is working with, and has not provided a price or date by which the phone might be widely available, but said it has begun offering the phone to potential customers. Boeing has not mentioned any specific details about the cameras on the phone, but we can clearly see one on the back   Boeing’s website says the phone can be configured to connect with biometric sensors or satellites. Other attachments can extend battery life or use solar power. The phone can operate on the WCDMA, GSM and LTE frequency bands and offers WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.   Such a phone might have prevented damage to Washington’s diplomacy in Ukraine from a leaked telephone call. A senior US State Department officer and the ambassador to Ukraine apparently used unencrypted cellphones for a call about political developments in Ukraine that became public.   Boeing’s tamper-proof phone is aimed at government agencies and contractors who need to keep communication and data secure, according to Boeing and filings with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission.   The company has been developing the phone for 36 months, said Boeing spokeswoman Rebecca Yeamans. “We saw a need for our customers in a certain market space” that Boeing could meet with its technology expertise, she said.   A sample purchase contract submitted to the FCC says the phone would be sold directly by Boeing or its agents. Yeamans said Boeing combined its own engineers with the talent of people who joined Boeing recently through acquisitions that included Argon ST Inc, Digital Receiver Technology Inc, Kestrel Enterprises Inc, Ravenwing Inc, and Solutions Made Simple Inc.   With inputs from Reuters