Solana Labs is expanding blockchain to the smartphone segment. Anatoly Yakovenko, the CEO of Solana Labs launched a software development tool for Web3 programmes called ‘Solana Mobile Stack' (SMS) on June 23. During this event held in New York, he revealed details of the firm's upcoming smartphone named ‘Saga'. This will be among the world's first-generation of crypto and Web3-centric smartphones when it releases in the early months of 2023. As per Solana co-founder Raj Gokal, they chose the name ‘Saga' because ‘the story of crypto is still being written'.

Supporting Google's Android OS, the Saga smartphone will be priced at around $1,000 (roughly Rs. 78,300) and will feature Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, a 6.67-inch OLED display, 12GB RAM, and 512GB of internal storage.

The phone will be loaded with a pro-Web3, decentralised app store featuring dApps.

A crypto wallet called ‘Solana Pay' will be pre-installed in Saga to process transactions via QR codes. A ‘seed vault' will also be part of this phone to safely store all the private keys linked to the device.

“Almost 7 billion people use smartphones around the world and more than 100 million people hold digital assets - and both of those numbers will continue to grow. Saga sets a new standard for the web3 experience on mobile,” Yakovenko said in a blog post.

Yakovenko, who was formerly employed with chipmaker Qualcomm, structurised Solana Labs between 2017-2018.

https://coins-gazette.com/post-detail/solana-labs-reveals-details-on-upcoming-smartphone-saga-web3-kit