Boeing's Now In The Self-Destructing Phone Biz

Believe it or not, airplane manufacturer Boeing has just unveiled a smartphone: The Boeing Black, which self-destructs if stolen or hacked. It's all very James Bond, but unfortunately you probably won't be able to find it in your local T-Mobile store — it's reportedly aimed at federal agencies, and will be carefully distributed by Boeing. So listen up, President Obama: it's high time you left your BlackBerry behind, once and for all, and picked up one of these beauties.

Unveiled Wednesday, this one might just be the smartest smartphone on the block. It encrypts phone calls, and if anyone but the user tries to open the casing, it will automatically delete all data and become inoperable. According to Boeing's press release, there's no other phone available that can answer the security needs of the U.S. defense and security communities:

The U.S. defense and security communities demand trusted access to data to accomplish their missions.Despite the continuous innovation in commercial mobile technology, current devices are not designed from inception with the security and flexibility needed to match their evolving mission and enterprise environment.

The Boeing Black has been in the works for three years, and its release marks a significant step forward for a company known for making planes (oh, and satellites.)

Not only is the self-destructing phone something James Bond's gadget creator Q would be proud of, it looks pretty sleek. At 5.2 inches by 2.7 inches, the Boeing Black is a smidge bigger than the iPhone 5, but it does have the capacity to hold two SIM cards and connect to multiple cell networks.

We're guessing there's a way you can switch out SIM cards without the phone self-destructing. Surely someone thought of that. Right?

But unless you're employed by the Department of Defense, your chances of getting your hands on one of these is... pretty much nil. ""The phone will only be made available to defense and security customers from Boeing," a spokesman for the corporation told ABC. Womp womp.

It isn't all bad: Maybe Obama can now end his tenure as the last person in the Western world to still be using a BlackBerry.

Image: Boeing