On 18 September 18, 2024, at the Token2049 event, Emmett Hollyer, General Manager of Solana Mobile, provided a detailed look into the company’s upcoming Web3 crypto phone, named Seeker.
Slated for release around May 2025, Seeker represents the second iteration of Solana’s push to integrate blockchain technology into mobile hardware, building upon the earlier Saga phone, which saw success after an initial struggle. Hollyer emphasized that Seeker will offer significant hardware improvements over its predecessor, including a better battery, stronger camera, and lighter design. These enhancements come alongside crucial crypto-specific upgrades, reaffirming Solana’s commitment to making Web3 mobile technology more accessible and efficient.
According to Hollyer, Seeker will ship with a specialty-built crypto wallet integrated with the device’s partitioned Seed Vault for key storage. This wallet will allow users to conduct crypto transactions more seamlessly than they could with Saga, providing an improved user experience when interacting with decentralized applications (dApps) and cryptocurrencies. The Seed Vault operates in a secure, partitioned environment, keeping users’ keys safe and separate from other apps and the Android operating system.
The introduction of Seeker comes as Solana Mobile seeks to capitalize on the momentum generated by Saga, which initially faced low sales but turned into a sellout after crypto traders realized they could collect valuable airdropped tokens by purchasing the device. This turnaround revitalized Solana’s interest in developing custom hardware for the blockchain space. Hollyer noted that Seeker’s pre-sales, which surpassed 100,000 units in early 2024, helped the company secure better supply chain deals for this new model.
A standout feature of the Seeker phone is its updated Solana Dapp Store, which improves upon the version introduced with Saga. Hollyer explained that Seeker’s Dapp store enhances the discoverability of apps, making it easier for users to explore and engage with the growing number of crypto applications. While only a handful of teams built apps for Saga, the Seeker has generated significant interest, with “tons of teams” reaching out to develop apps tailored for the new device. Hollyer emphasized that the strong pre-sales have fueled developer excitement, contributing to the rapid growth of the Solana ecosystem.
The Dapp store will also track token rewards more effectively, ensuring that users can easily monitor the rewards they earn from various apps and decentralized projects. This will be particularly useful as more teams plan to issue rewards to Seeker phone owners, creating new opportunities for users to generate income through their mobile devices.
In addition to hardware and app store upgrades, Seeker introduces new capabilities for third-party apps, particularly in how they access the phone’s “digital exhaust.” Digital exhaust refers to the wealth of data produced by mobile devices, including GPS data, cellular data, and computational power. While most device manufacturers tightly control this data for privacy reasons, Seeker will allow third-party apps to harness these resources, which could be highly valuable for decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN) and other crypto projects.
Solana Mobile has worked closely with teams from Helium and other DePIN projects to optimize Seeker’s sensors for this type of data collection. For example, the Helium network, which operates a user-bootstrapped cellular network, can utilize data points from Seeker to improve network mapping and growth tracking. Hollyer highlighted that this approach would unlock “unbelievable opportunities” for Seeker users to earn and engage with the decentralized ecosystem by contributing their device’s data to these projects.
Hollyer also confirmed that pre-orders for Seeker include the Chapter 2 Pre-order Token, allowing early adopters to participate in the Solana rewards system while they wait for the phone to ship. Additionally, the Founder Window Pricing has been reintroduced, making the phone available for $450 until the end of the Solana Breakpoint conference on September 21. This pricing strategy aims to make Seeker more accessible while building excitement for the phone’s eventual release.
Featured Image via Solana Mobile
