High-end camera maker RED joins mobile tech race with super costly phone

Hydrogen One price starts at US$1,200.

red hydrogen one
RED launches Hydrogen One smartphone with 3D holographic camera ability. Red

RED, the company who makes top-caliber cameras used in Hollywood science-fiction films like Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 and Transformers: The Last Knight, officially joins the smartphone race. The camera company has not gone too far from its DNA as its new product on the block, called Hydrogen One, comes with an incredibly massive price tag.

RED has confirmed on Thursday that it is gearing up the Hydrogen One smartphone due for release in early 2018. It is, however, not just any ordinary high-end smartphone coming soon as it targets the deep pockets with the base price set at US$1,200. The professional cinema camera manufacturer boasts the Hydrogen One to sport a 5.7-inch hydrogen holographic display, a technology it has developed that is capable of rendering 3D holographic content without the use of third-party accessories such as glasses.

The Hydrogen One will run on the Android operating system. As a camera company, RED wants to make sure it will deliver a killer top-of-the-line camera sensors. The phone will rock a camera with various modules that users can switch to. Some of the abilities it will have are the 3D footage in holographic video format and the premium motion and still capture.

With regards to audio, RED is integrating an exclusive audio format described to be multidimensional to match the holographic ability of the camera and screen. In its website, RED states, "Think 5.1 on your headphones," referring to surround sound. From the looks of the photo, Hydrogen One will have a headphone jack.

For camera owners of RED, like Epic, Weapon, and Scarlet, they will have an expanded ability to use the smartphone as a tool to control the camera. The Hydrogen One comes in two colour variants. The aluminium variant costs US$1,200 while the titanium variant costs US$1,600.

RED has not fully revealed all the specifications of the smartphone but it is expected to carry a huge amount of RAM and internal storage space to accommodate the 3D holographic contents. Hydrogen One is now available for pre-orders.

This article was first published on July 8, 2017
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