Smartphone with a holographic screen: is Red’s Hydrogen One gimmick or game changer?
- Display has 3D visuals you can view without special glasses, and offers games and movies converted to the format
- US$1,295 handset maker’s founder also launched Oakley sunglasses
Most leading phones offer the same basics: big screens, decent battery life and good cameras. So when a newcomer brings something innovative to the party, why is it difficult to break through a phone market dominated by Apple and Samsung?
One such smartphone comes out this week from Red, a company with roots in digital cameras for movie productions. The new Hydrogen One has a holographic screen that produces 3D visuals users can view without special glasses. It is launching with two major movies converted to this format and allows users to create and share their own videos shot with the phone.
Red’s goals are modest – about 16 million units a year, based on its stated target of 0.5 per cent of Samsung’s sales. But the company will need customers beyond the tech elite and camera buffs; it’ll need their friends and friends of their friends. It does not help that the Hydrogen One carries a hefty US$1,295 price tag.
“The Red Hydrogen One stands little chance of upsetting the smartphone status quo,” said Geoff Blaber, a research analyst at CCS Insight.
Chipping away at Apple’s and Samsung’s dominance is much harder than it used to be because phone innovation isn’t so much about hardware any more, Creative Strategies analyst Carolina Milanesi said. What matters more, she said, is the software and artificial intelligence behind it.
