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With Android being “open sourced” and all that, it pretty much means just about anyone can grab Google’s code and put it on a device of their choosing. That’s probably why the US government took a liking to the platform over rival mobile OS’s, and has commissioned a secure Android device from the unlikeliest of manufacturers — aerospace corporation — Boeing. Believe it or not but Boeing also specializes in defense and security, which makes them the perfect OEM to manufacturer the nation’s most secure Android handset for our military officials.
Boeing announced the news today, and will be outfitting defense and intelligence markets with these ultra-secure handsets that provide all the functionality of a normal Android device, just locked down tight. Due towards the end of 2012, Boeing failed to mention a price on these new handsets although, they’re expected to be significantly cheaper than comparable devices, which can reach upwards of $20,000 (remember, our government spends around $900 on an average hammer). Can’t wait to see the specs on this beast. Just don’t expect to find a Boeing phone in your local Radio Shack anytime soon.
[NationalDefense | Via GeekWire | TheVerge]
Wow, so POTUS can play actual ‘Search & Destroy’ on his Android phone!
900 on a hammer? I wonder why were so screwed……
There are reasons why the $15.00 hammer turns into $250.00. Everything is custom designed (usually). When you have to do life testing on the hammer, ensure multiple DoD specs are met, document your supply chain, construct numerous technical manuals for usage, etc, the total cost per hammer increases. The bigger question is do we really need this for a hammer? A new weapon or vehicle, sure.
When I was in the Marines I worked on the F/A-18. At the time, the Hornet was noted as being so cheap to purchase. Why? Because you had to buy a ton of support equipment and tools to work on it, and guess what those cost. Military support contracts are so overly burdened with ridiculous details, cost overruns are sure to happen.
But of course, they could just give out contracts uncontested, like Haliburton gets. They never screw over service personnel. /s
$20000 on a toilet seat.
These will not have high end specs. It takes years for products in the DoD to come to fruition till all the design, testing, demo, and pre-production phases are complete. This also does not include all the documentation that has to go along with it in the form of military spec users guides and troubleshooting. It is an extremely involved process. This phone could run a single core Snapdragon or OMAP from 2010 depending on when this process started. And that is where all our tax money goes! :)
I like what you said about it’s our tax money… -_- In a way ehts a big piss off
Not sure if want?
Not sure nothing. Unless you’re military/government, you can’t get one.
Where do you get your facts clown? $900 for a hammer? Even if it is a joke, it is misleading and irresponsible.
Source – Boeing Corporation – The Challenge of Being Ethical and Competitive
“Government spending on defense in mid-1980s placed the Pentagon and its military
contracts in a fishbowl. There were reports of the Pentagon paying outrageous prices for
spare parts: $659 for an ashtray, $640 for a toilet seat, $400 for a claw hammer, and $748
for a pair of pliers. Although Boeing wasn’t the only defense contractor guilty of the
overcharges, it did receive special media attention for the $748 duckbill pliers. When a
government engineer reported the price tag of the pliers to a Senate subcommittee, Boeing
slashed the price of the pliers to $90. The engineer testified that similar pliers could be
purchased at a hardware store for $7.61. Boeing dropped the prices of nearly 50 other tools
included in the same Air Force contract, which was worth $557,500. But, Boeing also
tacked on a “support equipment management” charge of $95,307 that pushed the cost of
the tools to the exact amount of the original contract, $557,500.”
So, you’re right, the highest price I could find offhand for a hammer was only $400 – then again, that is from decades ago.
I work for DOD and the other day I went online and found a company with a low price of what we needed. I had the company to send me a quote with shipping and taxes all included for each item. I sent the information up to my supervisor and it got kicked back because it wasn’t from a GSA vender. I looked up the same items in the Granger catalog and each item was over double the price of the quote that I got from the online vender. I believe in the near future this will soon change because the Head of GSA just stepped down a little over a week ago because she was under investigation for over spending. With all that being said a $900 hammer was a lil extreme but the federal government does spend way more then they should on items. Please excuse the grammar and run on sentences Trolls!