In a world full of cheap, no-name Android devices, aerospace and defense giant Boeing is going after the opposite end of the spectrum with plans to create a high-end, uber-secure phone based on Google's open-source mobile OS.
National Defense Magazine, a trade publication that focuses on business and technology in the defense sector, reports that the so-called "Boeing Phone" will be designed to be more inexpensive than similar proprietary secure devices that can cost tens of thousands of dollars each, but will not compete directly with BlackBerries, iPhones, and other consumer products.
Boeing executives said the phone is near the end of the development cycle and should be available in the last part of 2012.
Not surprisingly, the company is being tight-lipped about the specs, but it says the device is a response to the popularity of consumer devices seeping over into the enterprise, and apparently even the super secret Spy vs. Spy sector of the enterprise, too.
Expect it to include the ability to use some popular commercial apps alongside, well, whatever apps defense and aerospace types use.
No word on whether or not Angry Birds will be included on the Boeing Phone -- if it is, though, I'm sure the bonus levels will be really, really hard to unlock.