Solana is betting big on Web3 and mobile-focused growth. At an event on June 23, 2022, Anatoly Yakovenko, Co-Founder of Solana and CEO of Solana Labs, announced the release of its Web3-focused mobile software platform and also revealed that the team is working on a smartphone.
The software platform is called Solana Mobile Stack or SMS. It’s a development kit for Android apps, wallpapers, and games. The stack will simplify the job of developers who wish to create decentralised apps (DApps) while ensuring a great user experience. The mobile device, on the other hand, is called Saga and is set to release in early 2023.
“Developers have been blocked for too long from creating truly decentralised mobile apps because the existing gatekeeper model just doesn’t work anymore,” said Yakovenko at the launch event in New York.
“We live our lives on our mobile devices – except for Web3 because there hasn’t been a mobile-centric approach to private key management. The Solana Mobile Stack shows a new path forward on Solana that is open source, secure, optimised for web3, and easy to use,” he added.
Here are some of the salient features of the Solana SMS:
1. Mobile Wallet Adapter: This protocol links mobile and web apps to the blockchain wallet.
2. Seed Vault: It keeps all your sensitive information away from the web and stores it securely. This includes the private keys of your crypto wallets that are required to authorise transactions.
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3. Solana Pay: A decentralised payments system that will facilitate a wallet adapter and allow for QR code-based on-chain payments.
4. Web 3 App Store: The stack also comes with a decentralised app store with a distribution channel allowing developers to directly reach users on their phones. This will completely eliminate the need for users to shell out payment fees on other platforms.
The official press release shared with PR Newswire also says that Solana Pay will not thwart the presence of the popular Google Pay app, which thrives in a Web 2.0 ecosystem. Both will be able to co-exist on the Solana Saga.
The Solana SMS also allows users to mint NFTs, play Web 3 games, and purchase goods and services using digital assets. Further, the Seed Vault will protect personal information and allow users to trade online through decentralised platforms.
Of course, the Saga will support all these features and more. It will also sport a “6.67-inch OLED display, 12 GB RAM, 512 GB storage, and the latest flagship Snapdragon® 8+ Gen 1 Mobile Platform, the security features of which will enable the Solana Mobile Stack’s Seed Vault.”
The phone will set you back about $1,000, and pre-orders will require users to pay a non-refundable deposit of $100. Those who pre-order the phone will also become entitled to a limited edition NFT called the Saga Pass that will commemorate the launch of the phone. The Solana Saga will initially be released only for developers so that they can test the design and spot any shortcomings before its public release.
In a conversation with Decrypt, Yakovenko revealed that the company had been striving to launch SMS for over five months and even longer for the hardware. “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,” said Yakovenko. “It just feels like a natural opportunity to build a Web3-facing app store and Web3 device,” he added.
