How about a smartphone whose display transitions seamlessly from the conventional 2D to virtual and augmented mixed reality. This may sound a bit outlandish at the moment but Red – as the company is named – already has on offer such a handset.
Named Hydrogen One, the handset is currently available on pre-order with prices starting at $1,195. That applies to what the company fondly refers to as the Aluminum trim while the more upmarket Titanium version will set one back a cool $1,595.
Those surely aren’t what the most hi-flying regular smartphone flagship costs. But then the Hydrogen One isn’t your run-of-the-mill flagship smartphone. The company is claiming the 5.7-inch Hydrogen Holographic display will negate the need to have a separate AR/VR headset once and for ever.
According to Red, the display will be able to show conventional 2D content as a smartphone usually does. It is from here that the phone’s unique abilities start. For the same display will also be able to show what the company claims as ‘holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content (H4V)’, ‘stereo 3D content’ along with ‘2D/3D VR, AR and MR content’.
Those might be a bit tech heavy to comprehend right away though what that means is that one will be able to enjoy AR/VR/MR/3D content right off the same display without requiring to wear a separate headset as such. CEO Jim Jannard had earlier revealed his hatred for headsets and the Hydrogen One seems to be his solution.
Similar to its novel approach to display, Hydrogen One also offers expansive multi-dimensional audio. That again is achieved using an H3O algorithm that works on standard stereo audio feed to deliver sound that the company claims is equivalent to having a 5.1 system on your headphones. Also yes, the handset does come with a dedicated 3.5mm headphone slot.
Meanwhile, the company also stated the prices are valid for a limited time only, which means there are chances those would scale northwards later on. In any case, the prices mentioned above are exclusive of taxes. So the actual prices are bound to shift up a bit. Shipments start during early 2018 with no specific dates available just yet.
Those who pre-order now will be also entitled to a small token though the company isn’t revealing what that will be. Accompanying in the box will be a standard USB-C cable along with a microSD card.
