RED Launches a $1,200 Smartphone With a 'Hydrogen Holographic Display' (phonedog.com)

RED, a company known for its high-end $10,000+ cameras, is launching a smartphone called the RED Hydrogen One. Some of the features include a 5.7-inch "Hydrogen holographic display" capable of viewing holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content, 3D content, and 2D/3D virtual-reality and augmented-reality content, a built-in H3O algorithm that can convert stereo sound into multi-dimensional audio, and support for modular components. PhoneDog reports: RED isn't really talking about any of the Hydrogen One's raw specs like its processor, camera resolution, RAM, or battery size. We do know that it runs Android and that it'll have a microSD slot, and we can see in RED's sole teaser image that the phone will also have a 3.5mm headphone jack and USB Type-C port. The RED Hydrogen One is currently slated to begin shipping in Q1 2018. If you're already sold on the device, you can pre-order an aluminum model for $1,195 or a titanium version of $1,595. RED does say that these prices will be available for a limited time only.

Comments

Hydrogen Holographic Display

[Anonymous Coward]

I hear those are the best kind of displays.

Re:Hydrogen Holographic Display

[dreamstateseven]

Forget HD -- we're going HHD!

Re:Hydrogen Holographic Display

[FatdogHaiku]

Little bit more info and slightly better photo (along with that shadowed one) here
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/07/red-teases-a-modular-1600-titanium-android-phone-with-a-3d-screen/
Not sure what a "phonedog" is, but if it's what I think then I don't want the phone back...

Re: Hydrogen Holographic Display

[Anonymous Coward]

Picture is clearly labeled a "render."
Shit doesn't even exist.

Re: Hydrogen Holographic Display

[Anonymous Coward]

Anyone remember the hype about the RED 4K laser based projection system for high end home theatre that never actually went into production? ;-)

Re:Hydrogen Holographic Display

[Aighearach]

Not sure what a "phonedog" is

dog
[dawg, dog]
noun ...
  12.
Machinery.

        any of various mechanical devices, as for gripping or holding something.
        a projection on a moving part for moving steadily or for tripping another part with which it engages.

13.
Also called gripper, nipper. Metalworking. a device on a drawbench for drawing the work through the die.
14.
a cramp binding together two timbers.
15.
an iron bar driven into a stone or timber to provide a means of lifting it.
16.
an andiron; firedog.

A phonedog appears to be a type of zombie that is always gripping a phone as it wanders about.

Re:Hydrogen Holographic Display

[FatdogHaiku]

Not sure what a "phonedog" is

dog [dawg, dog] noun ... 12. Machinery.

any of various mechanical devices, as for gripping or holding something. a projection on a moving part for moving steadily or for tripping another part with which it engages.

13. Also called gripper, nipper. Metalworking. a device on a drawbench for drawing the work through the die. 14. a cramp binding together two timbers. 15. an iron bar driven into a stone or timber to provide a means of lifting it. 16. an andiron; firedog.

A phonedog appears to be a type of zombie that is always gripping a phone as it wanders about.

Oh Dear Lord!
Our cities have already been overrun by them!!!

Veblen Good

[rmdingler]

In for a penny...

you can pre-order an aluminum model for $1,195 or a titanium version of $1,595. RED does say that these prices will be available for a limited time only.

I mean, who wouldn't cough up an extra four Benjamins for the Platinum upgrade?

What are we? Savages?

Re:Veblen Good

[Midnight Thunder]

For those who can buy a RED camera and not flinch are bound to be a primary market? For the rest of us, we might as well be savages.

Re:Veblen Good

[kurkosdr]

Pre order? Not interested. Let someone else play the "venture capitalist for free" game.

Something doesn't smell right.

[newcastlejon]

If you're interested in this I have a car-swallowing, lane-straddling bus to sell you.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[rtb61]

I would be interested if the display was 65" not bloody less than 6", why even bother. I want to spend less time looking at a 6" or less display and have more effective voice controls and 3D video display glasses I can plug into the phone which give me a virtual 125" display to futz with.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[Nethemas the Great]

Not sure what to make of it. They appear to be a maker of obnoxiously expensive camera bodies and related for Hollywood. I'm still waiting to see why billionaire fools are dumping the huge sums they are into Magic Leap.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[Lumpy]

If you think that RED cameras are "obnoxiously expensive" then you have zero clue as to the cost of an Arriflex digital cinema camera.

Yes cameras for cinema should cost more than your econobox car.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[LeftCoastThinker]

Actually, Red pioneered the affordable pro 3D camera space. These cameras are not hobbiest, they are professional grade, and have been used to shoot many of the blockbuster movies you have watched over the last few years (like the Hobbit trilogy). Their cameras were about 20% the price of the competition when they were introduced.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[omnichad]

They appear to be a maker [red.com] of obnoxiously expensive camera bodies and related for Hollywood.

More like a quality budget line.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[dwywit]

As always, you get what pay for. RED gear is highly regarded by professionals.

And, as someone upthread mentioned, cheaper than the established brands. Arri, Aaton, high-end Sony, Panasonic, and Canon models, all carry prices you'd call obscene.

Until you see the results, then you achieve enlightenment.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[thegarbz]

Yeah, comparing a well known company in the media industry which currently produces the world best recording sensor, who's equipment is used in the production of many top blockbusters.... comparing them to an obvious startup scam doesn't smell right.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[Cederic]

I'm interested in this. I'd actually love to have a full RED digital video set up, I'm just short of the £120k it would cost to get all the bits I want.

That's not because they're over-priced, it's because they're bloody excellent. Although I'd probably have to add another £20k in training to use it all effectively..

Re: Something doesn't smell right.

[Kjella]

Which is why I'd be sceptical about this product. They obsess about quality and reliability which is exactly what you want in a 10k+ rig, which is their low end for a kitted Raven. And that's okay because you're competing with Canon EOS, Panasonic Varicam, Sony FS7 and up, Blackmagic's high end etc. that are also in the same ballpark. They don't have to care that they don't compete with the $2000 Panasonic GH5 or an iPhone camera.

On the consumption side, it's all about reach. How many people will buy a $1000+ phone? What kind of 3D/VR/AR content will cater to such a limited market? Occulus Rift/Vive etc. struggle enough after years of hype, in this space RED is a nobody. So I expect a technically excellent product with hardly any customers or content.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can use that bus over a bridge in Brooklyn I would love to sell you for the low low price of....

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[Aighearach]

As always, you get what pay for

That's exactly what the guy in the white van said!

If you buy a bag of dirt for $1, you got what you paid for.

If you buy a bag of dirt for $1000, you got what you paid for.

The saying is literally true, but what it implies (that spending more money means getting a better product) is complete horseshit.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[spitzak]

Not 3D. Red introduced less expensive hi-def (ie 4K or more) digital cameras.

Re:Something doesn't smell right.

[LeftCoastThinker]

A lot of 3D films were shot using Red cameras because shooting 3D requires 2 cameras shooting simultaneously in a 3D rig. This doubles the number of cameras you need, thus with Red, they dramatically reduced the cost of filming 3D.

Re: Something doesn't smell right.

[LeftCoastThinker]

If I had to guess, they are probably targeting viewing 3D movies on your phone without having to wear glasses. Regarding the price point, I doubt that is much of an issue, if they truly had a killer app (iPhones are already in the $800 range). I personally am not interested 3D gimmicky stuff with 3" depth of field though. You cite Occulus and Vive, but all the while, PSVR is leading the VR revolution. They have already sold over 1 million units while Occulus and Vive sales numbers sag. It is comfortable and affordable (worst case you have to buy a PS4 pro for $400 along with a $400 sticker price) vs the competition where the VR units alone are $800 plus a VR capable PC which will run you $1200. Plus PSVR already has over 100 games available.

So, what does this actually do for me?

[Anonymous Coward]

The article is basically just a copy of the press release, which doesn't have much information. What exactly does the holographic display do for me? Is it a projection? Is it something like the Nintendo 3DS things? Is there a bunch of holographic content out there just dying to get into my grubby paws?

Hey man, that phone is YOU !

[Anonymous Coward]

You're gonna get some leg tonight fooor suuuuure !!!

( apologies to Van Halen )

Re:Hey man, that phone is YOU !

[Anonymous Coward]

You're gonna get some leg tonight fooor suuuuure !!!

( apologies to Van Halen )

C'mon, AC, give me a break.

Blatant

[Anonymous Coward]

Blatant, obvious and stupid slashvertisment. I hope they go broke.

Re:Blatant

[unixisc]

Is RED the same company as Blu? Just branding about a different color now?

It's shit!

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, it could be the opening salvo in something big but this isn't it. I'll wait until I see a video of the 'holographic display' until passing further comment. Jim Jannard said it isn't lenticular which means it probably is a minor advance in display tech. Still, I think the real use for this (for the foreseeable future) will probably be in UI, not in entertainment.

The audiophile's choice in phones

[Guillermito]

This smartphone is the best choice for audiophiles since, unlike the iPhone, it does include a headphone jack. However, It's only compatible with this $1,494.75 audio cable: http://www.audiolab.com/audioq...

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[ArylAkamov]

Almost no contact between conductors and insulation reduces smearing

FINALLY
I fucking hate it when I accidentally smear my audio all over myself.

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[Tanman]

What really blows my mind -- at the bottom of the page selling that cable, "We take trade-ins"

Hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I cannot have enough "ha's"

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm tempted to call and see what they'll give me a Radioshack 6 foot rca cable.

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[Anonymous Coward]

But look! It has "Geomtery."

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[argStyopa]

You'd think at $1500 per cable, they could afford spell-check:

"...
Triple-Balanced Geomtery
Proper ground-reference conductor prevents using the shield as an inferior ground-reference conductor.
"

Yeah.

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Blah. The cables are designed by GEOM. Sent back in time from distant future ...
Now throw them your moneys ... for the physics bending Geomtery.

Re:The audiophile's choice in phones

[Anonymous Coward]

Pfft, only spendthrifts and rogues would strive to low as to attain that sub-par cable.
Why, anyone in their right mind can see clearly that the only cable befitting such a majestic device is this $3,399.75 audio cable!

http://www.audiolab.com/audioquest-wild-blue-yonder-interconnect-cable/

Wait. What?

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't even know what this phone can actually do. The write up explains nothing. There are 10 different things "holographic" can mean. Meanwhile it claims to provide augmented reality, virtual reality and "four-view" content. What?

And one stupid picture, and no demonstrations. Can we see it actually doing the things it claims to do, before blowing more than a thousand dollars on a phone?

Re:Wait. What?

[Aighearach]

Holographic augmented reality means that when they see how much you spent on it, you'll have a bunch of fake boobs chasing you around the mall. If you need a demonstration, you can't afford it. If a thousand dollars is a lot of money, please don't try to demo it because the finger oils can mar the hand.

Battery life?

[Anonymous Coward]

30 seconds.
Did you catch all of the heatsinking on the back?

Re:Battery life?

[sheramil]

30 seconds. Did you catch all of the heatsinking on the back?

Oh yeah.

"The huge RED camera logo on the back is surrounded by more fins that are meant to evoke a heatsink (it would be pretty cool if these were functional)."

Because you want the heat fins to be poking in to the palm of your hand.

Suspicious

[freeze128]

RED is widely known for "affordable" 4K cameras, but I'm skeptical about this phone. We heard nothing about it at Mobile World Congress, and it would seem to have a breakthrough technology for display. Also, order now, so they take your money and earn interest on it for a whole year before they deliver. I'll believe it when I can see it with my own eyes.

Re:Suspicious

[Anonymous Coward]

holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content

I'll believe it when I can see it with my own eyes.

Your eyes will not be able to comprehend the extra-dimensional representations of the elements this phone offers.

a built-in H3O algorithm that can convert stereo sound into multi-dimensional audio

Your multi-channel home theater audio system will get a nervous breakdown, or shit paralysis as we casually say here, every time you bring in the phone to the house.

Re:Suspicious

[Distortions]

Red has been doing 4k for some time... People have been shooting 6k and now recently 8k on them.

The 8K helium sensor is amazing.

Re:Suspicious

[Aighearach]

You aren't going to earn a bunch of interest on cash, especially when you have to spend a lot of it on the equipment needed for the production. But even if it was a prepaid service, short term cash savings doesn't pay useful amounts of interest. Certainly not anything even approaching half the rate of inflation.

I don't get it

[Anonymous Coward]

"holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content"

What the fuck is that? I tried looking it up, but all I got was ads for this phone thing. Seems legit.

Project FI

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a very overpriced^h^h^h^h^h elite Android FI phone.

Yet if they made a proper Android tablet (like an S3 but bigger screen, more resolution, and a multi-window interface*) then $1595 would be damn cheap.

* By which I mean a tablet friendly one, not a desktop window system designed for a mouse and repurposed for tablets. Not Chrome OS with Android grafted on.

Uh-huh. Holographic.

[Trogre]

So are they using a phase or amplitude based system to record the interference pattern?

 

In-hex screws.

[Rip!ey]

I'm looking at the in-hex screws holding it all together. Some people call them capscrews. Thais tells me a lot about the product and those making it.

Re: In-hex screws.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thais tell me lots of things too, but I think they're just trying to make a sale.

Re:In-hex screws.

[Anonymous Coward]

>Thais tells me a lot about the product and those making it.
Yeah? Like what?

Not only that BUT

[future assassin]

the audio cable, .05 of a meter is the same price as 3 meters!!!

Re:Not only that BUT

[Frosty Piss]

the audio cable, .05 of a meter is the same price as 3 meters!!!

Add the connector to update price.

Don't rag

[Anonymous Coward]

They have a 24K camera that can capture 240 fps! Why pay less?

I'm sold!

[The Night Watchman]

You had me at microSD slot.

Re:I'm sold!

[blindseer]

I was more impressed with the inclusion of a headphone jack.

Help

[newbie_fantod]

"Hydrogen holographic display" capable of viewing holographic RED Hydrogen 4-View content, 3D content, and 2D/3D virtual-reality and augmented-reality content, a built-in H3O algorithm that can convert stereo sound into multi-dimensional audio, and support for modular components.

Could someone please translate this into English for me? google translate doesn't seem to recognize the original language. TIA

Re:Help

[sheramil]

My best guess would be like the diagram on the back of that Brian Eno album that showed how to connect a third speaker to your stereo. Except in software. No... I think they're hand-waving, because of the lack of details available anywhere for any of the things they're pushing. I tend to rail a lot against assholes who blurt technobabble in press releases, particularly the assholes who appear to believe their own bullshit, and this appears to be a prime example.

Re:Help

[dwywit]

Up-mixing stereo into 5.1 is a job for professionals, not an algorithm, although I'd like to try it.

Also, professionals will tell you to record multi-channel in the first place, and not try to fake it later.

Mind you, it would be nice to have a way to do it, even it was cheating, e.g. send voice frequencies to a dialogue horn, low frequencies to the woofer, copy a subset of L+R into centre, etc

We receive movie trailers in stereo, but the projection system is set up for 6.1 - it would be nice to have a way to fake L+R into multi-channel, even if just to fill the centre a bit.

Re:Help

[Headw1nd]

Apparently, the future is now.

Re:Help

[ConceptJunkie]

That's because it's in a write-only language called "marketingese". It has no meaning.

Re:Help

[Anonymous Coward]

Not so hard. Over 2 decades my partner and I have worked on this, latest version being in code, rather than analog.

Simplistically; Take the delta of left and right, then add the delta to left and the delta to right to get 4 from 2. But there are a number of other calculations that are done on top of the simple. Also possible is extracting 8 channels from 2 top provide quad with height, with surprisingly good results. Additionally it can also decode ambisonic and quad recordings as well as fill out stero.

A lot of lost information is hidden in the phase, and that /can/ be recovered with fairly simple maths.

Re:Uh-huh. Holographic.

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, if you reverse the polarity, the phone will suck you into the void!

Going out on a limb here

[nightfire-unique]

Let me guess. The battery is glued into the phone.

Re:Going out on a limb here

[Wescotte]

It's uses the RED Brick for one week of continuous use and six months talk time.

What the hell am I buying

[Anonymous Coward]

"Hydrogen holographic" " RED Hydrogen 4-View" "H3O"

Is this a phone or a chemical weapon?

Re:What the hell am I buying

[Aighearach]

Yes.

That said, why OR, why not AND?

Obvious scam is obvious

[ross1160]

Nice render, but the thing doesn't exist. And there's no photos or videos of it, prototypes, or of the 'holographic display' in action.

Re:Obvious scam is obvious

[Aighearach]

That is all explained by the "pre-" in pre-order.

I like the design but...

[NominalLoss]

Is it just me or is the red hydrogen logo freaking ugly? I think the phone looks cool with all the grippy bits but for a 1500 phone that logo is just too ugly.

Yes That All Makes Perfect Sense

[notsteve]

More than anything else, it sounds like someone knew it was his last day at RED.

PHILISTINES. (or - some new level of Hell)

[Thud457]

BAH.

In this age of mass customization, a truly high-end connoisseur will insist on each fastener be unique. Within the same device.

The authorized factory service center will be the only ones able to order a custom-made disposable toolset based upon the serial number. Anything less and you risk letting the hydrogen leak romt the display an loss of image quality. You don't want to risk the embarrassment of your $1500 3D phone to only be able to display a pathetic 2.95D.