The name Boeing is synonymous with aircraft, but a new venture will take the company into the realm of airtime too.

The Seattle-based aeroplane manufacturer is reportedly in the final stages of developing an Android-powered smartphone. Since the handset will be aimed specifically at employees in the government, intelligence, military and aerospace industries – including Boeing’s own employees – Boeing is building it to be just as secure and durable as its aircraft.

While Boeing has not yet released any details about the handset’s specifications, the smartphone will be Android-based and boast all the functionality of other smartphones available on the consumer market. This way, users will still have access to all the most popular apps and games while their sensitive business communications will remain encrypted and secure.

In an interview with an American defence trade magazine, Brian Palma, vice president of Boeing’s secure infrastructure group, says that Boeing believes there is a “significant interest” for a device like that in the industries the company is crafting it for. “The phone will give them what they are used to seeing (on consumer market smartphones) and give them the functionality from the security perspective.”

Palma points out that although encrypted handsets with propriety software and hardware already exist for use in the intelligence and government industries, they sell for around $15 000 to $20 000 each. He says that Boeing will be able to bring the price down on its own offering, although it is likely that it will still far exceed the prices of commercial smartphones.

The Boeing phone will likely be launched in late 2012. 

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