Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs has unveiled Saga, a flagship Android mobile phone with unique functionality and features tightly integrated with the Solana blockchain making it easy and secure to transact in web3 and manage digital assets, such as tokens and NFTs. The firm has also launched Solana Mobile Stack (SMS), an open-source software toolkit for Android enabling native Android web3 apps, and the Saga smartphone will pre-equip this SMS.
If you’re unfamiliar with Solana, it’s a crypto start-up that creates and develops crypto apps for decentralized apps and marketplaces. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was previously called the Osom OV1, and is developed by former Essential employees.
Solana Saga smartphone with Solana Mobile Stack SDK:
The Saga smartphone features flagship-level hardware such as a 6.67-inch OLED display, 12 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, and the latest flagship Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform. Other specifications and looks of the Saga phone are yet to be revealed by the firm.
The phone will also include the Solana Mobile Stack, which is an Android framework that allows developers to create rich mobile experiences for Solana wallets and apps. For example, the Seed Vault keeps private keys, seed phrases, and secrets separate from the application layer while still allowing interaction with apps running on the device or in a mobile browser.
Further, the smartphone will have the Solana dApp Store, a new app distribution system on Android for decentralized apps, along with Google Play, providing access to web2 and web3 apps.
What does the Solana Mobile Stack SDK do?
The aim of launching this smartphone is to incorporate Web3 apps that run on a blockchain or peer-to-peer (P2P) network, and to accomplish the goal, the firm has introduced a new Solana Mobile Stack, an open-source software toolkit for Android that enables native Android web3 apps. The SDK provides a new set of libraries for wallets and apps, allowing developers to create rich mobile experiences on Solana, the world’s most performant blockchain, and is built to run alongside Android.
The initial capabilities of this Android SDK include three main features: Mobile Wallet Adapters, Seed Vault, and Solana Pay.
- The Mobile Wallet Adapter is a protocol that allows web apps and native Android apps to connect to mobile wallets.
- The Seed Vault gives you access to the device’s most secure security environment.
- Solana Pay, a decentralized payments rail for Solana, allows wallet apps to use Android device system features to capture Solana Pay URLs via QR codes, NFC taps, messages, and web browser interactions in order to launch Solana Pay requests.
The Solana Mobile Stack and Solana dApp Store are meant to give developers new ways to make new and better experiences. For example, users will be able to mine NFTs anywhere and at any time by proving their identity securely through their phones. The SDK is available for developers starting today.
Pricing and Availability:
Pre-orders for Saga smartphone have already started, and you need to pay $100 (Rs. 7,820 approx.) fully refundable deposit, which will be applied to the anticipated final cost of $1,000 (Rs. 78,234 approx.) and the phone will be prioritized for developers in order to test the Solana Mobile Stack and Saga.
Those who pre-order may be eligible to receive a Saga Pass, an NFT accompanying the first wave of Saga devices, and the first ticket to influencing the direction of the SMS platform. The phone will be available in the US, Canada, Europe and UK in early Q1 2023.