When a camera maker announces a smartphone, not many people listen. However, when Red the high end camera maker announces a smartphone with holographic display the interest is, of course, a little higher. Unfortunately, they did not release any more details on the holographic display other than saying that it comes with a “holographic” display. There are some other goodies as well, such as multi dimensional audio, a modular component system with a new high speed bus, and it can act as a command center for Red cameras.
Red Hydrogen One Smartphone
Other than these three announcements, the company website is very vague and lacks any kind of details. The Hydrogen One, as the device is being called, is not available until Q1 2018 and so one would expect that the current technical specs will most likely change, anyway. They are very clear on the price so. The phone comes in two versions, the aluminium version for $1195 and a titanium version for $1595. I you think that this is rather steep for a smartphone, please remember that you get an unlocked smartphone with a 5.7″ holographic display. And if you still think that is pricey, let me remind you that this is special early bird price that will change at a later time. I wonder if this change will mean up or down?
Analyst Comment
When it comes to high end camera systems, Red is definitely a major player, however I would not think of them as display developer of any kind. This leads me to believe that this ‘holographic display’ is made by someone else and not necessarily a high volume manufacturer. I am thinking more along the lines of Zecotek or similar display developer. They also say that there is only limited display manufacturing capacity available, which seems to support my suspicion.
I am not going to question the term ‘holographic’ here as I suspect that we are talking of some kind of 3D display and not a real holographic display based on laser light sources. On a more interesting note, Red mentions that this display will work in landscape and portrait mode. This would of course eliminate lenticular technology as it would require at least round instead of cylindrical lenses. Since this is all speculation I am looking forward learning a little more as we get closer to the release date. Unfortunately, I am pretty sure that my smartphone budget will not support the acquisition of the phone, especially since I am not a proud owner of a Red camera either. (NH)
