SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 24, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global smartphone and IOT device company Borqs Technologies,
Inc. (NASDAQ:BRQS) and Mobile blockchain OS developer Zippie Ltd. will jointly offer a blockchain phone
reference design to hundreds of smartphone brands globally.
Zippie is a blockchain technology company specialised in building an easy to use mobile experience for the decentralised
internet. Zippie’s solution offers its partners an opportunity to build a user centric smartphone business model, where users are
rewarded. Borqs, listed in Nasdaq, is one of the fastest growing IOT and smartphone companies in the world. Together Borqs and
Zippie are now able to offer a blockchain smartphone reference design to hundreds of device brands globally.
In the US market Zippie and Borqs have partnered with Blacture, founded by Emmy and Grammy award winning entertainer and
humanitarian, Pras Michel. Blacture is delivering the first blockchain phone to the US market. With Blacture phone
users earn rewards for online purchases, sharing information and offering products and services to the community. Rewards accrue in
a secure digital wallet, in the form of tokens. Tokens have a corresponding dollar value, which can then be used for online or
offline transactions via a debit card, which comes with the phone. For Blacture, Zippie provides the blockchain software solution,
and Borqs provides the smartphone hardware.
Recently HTC and Sirin labs announced a single blockchain based smartphone offering - Zippie and BORQS are first to offer a
smartphone reference design available for all device brands making it easy and fast to take to the market.
Antti Saarnio, CEO of Zippie comments: “The smartphone industry today is super competitive, and many brands are
struggling to differentiate. Our blockchain powered smartphone gives them an immediate opportunity to offer something totally
different to the market, something which is not based on user data collection, but rewarding users and giving data ownership back
to the users.”
George Thangadurai, EVP & President of International Business for Borqs, comments: “We are delighted to be
Zippie’s partner to deliver smartphone reference designs with their blockchain technology. Borqs has a proven record of delivering
innovative new technologies in our customer’s products, enabling rapid commercialization and scale. In partnership with Blacture &
Zippie, we look forward to deliver the blockchain smartphone. Borqs has immense experience delivering robust implementations of
security technologies in smartphones and is well positioned to drive Zippie’s blockchain technology adoption globally. ”
Enter the blockchain world in 20 seconds
The key advantage of Zippie’s blockchain phone solution is that it makes it very easy for users to onboard the blockchain.
Entering the blockchain and cryptocurrency world is currently very difficult and complicated for non-technical consumers. You need
to create a digital identity, manage private keys, manage your digital wallet, download browser plug-ins and so on. Zippie has
successfully simplified the onboarding process so that the user does not need to know or manage such things like private keys or
public keys or downloading web 3 plug-ins. The blockchain can only be used widely by consumers when it is simple and easy to
use.
Zippie’s 20 second onboarding solution helps also different blockchain based applications to get normal consumers to become
their customers. Zippie demonstrated its onboarding solution last weeks Thursday at a New York Blockchain week event, which Zippie
sponsored together with Ethereum foundation, and some leading blockchain projects like Cosmos, Omisego, Golem, and
Status.
Decentralised app (Dapp) partners: Streamr, Dbrain and Etherbots
During New York Blockchain week Zippie announced three blockchain solution partners with whom it will be working with to bring
new features to its blockchain OS. Zippie is working together with data marketplace Streamr, AI learning project Dbrain, Blockchain
strategy game Etherbots.
The blockchain phone concept is really undefined until the unique decentralised features are clearly defined. Otherwise the
blockchain phone is just a buzz word.
Antti Saarnio continues: “The key question is: what additional value will the blockchain phone offer. Zippie works closely with
carefully selected quality blockchain projects to build those features. With Streamr we can build
solutions, which give control to people over their data, but also give them a chance to be rewarded for sharing the data they want
to share. With Dbrain, blockchain phone users can earn rewards for teaching AI. With Etherbots users can earn token assets by playing games.
“This is only the very beginning, we will need lots of application partners to jointly build the blockchain phone user
experience. This project is also very important to the blockchain industry, as the whole industry has to bring its technology
solutions to the level where normal consumers can benefit from it.”
Press image: Motif, Blacture's blockchain smartphone coming fall 2018, the first customer for Zippie and Borqs:
download here. https://web.tresorit.com/l#mSV_Pbqk1zCguPvQg66Lcg
Zippie interviews & videos:
Zippie’s CEO Antti Saarnio talks about blockchain and Zippie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzKQrmHQ5vE
CTO Carsten Munk talks about how blockchain will revolutionise the way we do software and use our mobile devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_OcDvr5Fpk
Antti and Carsten give a summaery of the NY Blockchain Week experience and feedback to Zippie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=94&v=dTrGkKYQsns
Zippie talks to Jake Brukhman of CoinFund in NY Blockchain Week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnDcZv_hT9U&=&t=
Zippie talks to Vansa Chatikavanij of Omisego in NY Blockchain Week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDMoJko4C8A&t=2s
Basic info on Zippie:
Zippie webpage: https://zippie.org
New introduction video: https://youtu.be/mxInw942_uA
Press contact: press@zippie.org
About Borqs Technologies, Inc.
Borqs Technologies is a global leader in software and products for the IoT, providing customizable, differentiated and scalable
Android-based smart connected devices and cloud service solutions. Borqs has achieved leadership and customer recognition as an
innovative end-to-end IoT solutions provider leveraging its strategic chipset partner relationships as well as its broad software
and IP portfolio. The Company designs, develops and provides turnkey solutions across device form factors such as smartphones,
tablets, smartwatches, trackers, automotive IVI, and vertical application devices (for restaurants, payments etc.). For more
information, please visit the Company’s website (www.borqs.com).
About Zippie Ltd
Zippie is a mobile and blockchain technology company developing blockchain operating system for mobile. Its mission is to bring
blockchain to the masses with easy to use and secure mobile experiences. Zippie was founded in May 2016 by mobile company Jolla’s
Chairman Antti Saarnio and other Jolla and Nokia’s MeeGo veterans. Zippie has been invested in by some of the leading players in
the blockchain industry, like Hashed. https://www.zippie.org
CONTACT: Ms. Michelle Wang
Email: michelle.wang@borqs.net
