Solana Labs, Smartphone Maker Osom Team up to Unveil Web3-ready Handset

cryptonews.com:

Solana Labs, the firm behind the Solana (SOL) blockchain, says it will launch an Android mobile phone for the Solana network – and aims to ship the device to customers as early as next year.

The device will be called Saga and should feature crypto wallet functions, as well as a mobile software development kit for Web3 apps named Solana Mobile Stack.

The handset should also come with direct access to a Web3 store for dapps (decentralized, blockchain-powered apps) and an integrated Solana Pay function, which would allow users to make payments on the network using QR codes. The Solana Foundation is also creating a USD 10m fund “to encourage growth of mobile dapps.”

Other crypto-themed features include a mobile wallet adapter and a seed vault – a repository for private keys.

The device will also come with Saga Pass, which Solana Labs called a non-fungible token (NFT) that will accompany “the first wave of Saga devices.” This NFT, the firm added, will represent the “first ticket to participating in community governance of the Solana Mobile Stack platform.”

In a post, the Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko, claimed that the “time has come” for “crypto to go mobile.”

He bemoaned the fact that crypto users are still forced to use desktop devices and almost-obsolete hardware to carry out their dealings – suggesting that the new phone would solve these problems. Yakovenko wrote:

“After all this time, the preferred method of interacting with crypto still involves installing a browser extension and plugging in a thumb drive.”

Solana Labs added that it was partnering with a number of crypto players to facilitate the phone’s release, including the crypto exchange giant FTX, as well as the NFT marketplace Magic Eden, the “move-to-earn”