Turing Announces Distribution Partnership with Potevio in China for its $1,599 Smartphone

Turing Robotics Industries (TRI), the makers of the elusive (putting it lightly) Turing Phone, came back into the spotlight with their recent manufacturing agreement with TCL to produce the $1,599 Turing Phone Appassionato GX8. The company does appear to be working towards an actual product that consumers can buy, as it has now announced a distribution partnership with Potevio, a China state-owned telecommunications distribution company.

The partnership agreement with Potevio ensures the distribution of 750,000 Turing Phone Appassionato GX8 models throughout China via Potevio's 20,000+ retail stores, beginning this fall and aligning with the previously revealed September 2017 shipping timeline. The agreement also allows for the co-establishment of Turing Phone flagship retail stores in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The press release from TRI also reveals a few specifications of the Turing Phone Appassionato, although the press release remains silent on whether these apply to the high-end GX8 model or to both, the GX8 as well as base PX8 variant. The Turing Phone Appassionato will feature a 5.5″ 2K AMOLED display from Samsung, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC (and not the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC), 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The device will also sport the Sony IMX378 sensor for its camera, and Android 7.1.1 Nougat with TRI's 'mobile defense platform' for its OS. The phone will be made out of an amorphous alloy dubbed 'Liquidmorphium' which will provide a scratch resistant surface and a ceramic feel. Well, that's what Turing claims, and we have yet to see them deliver on such buzzwords.

TRI is also disclosing more details about Sir ALAN, its "human enhanced-concierge service and digital assistant". Sir ALAN is said to be able to help optimize trips, suggest activities based on social popularity and secure reservations, map traffic-oriented driving routes, report weather conditions, manage paperwork like expense reports and even provide advanced legal, HR assistance and business services. It remains to be seen how well Sir ALAN works (if at all) and how it competes against popular digital assistants like Google Assistant, Cortana and Siri.

What are your thoughts on the Turing Phone Appassionato? Will it hit the market? Who do you think would buy one? Let us know in the comments below!

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