The new COLDCARD improves on the Mk4 by adding a QWERTY keyboard, large LCD screen, and QR code scanner.
Bitcoin hardware company Coinkite is launching a new high-end COLDCARD, with a full QWERTY keyboard, larger LCD screen, and QR code scanner. The COLDCARD Q1 will also run on battery power, eliminating the need to plug the device into a power outlet or computer.
“We always wanted to make a QWERTY device for fast battery-powered passphrase entry,” Coinkite founder NVK told Bitcoin Magazine. “We’ve been toying with the QR idea for years, and finally found a safe way to make QR scanners. I’m very excited about this, we think this is the ultimate hardware wallet.”
The COLDCARD Q1 resembles the historical BlackBerry. A stealthy gray bodywork encases the safety features introduced with the Mk4, which was launched last year. The new device also borrows other features from the Mk4, including NFC support, USB virtual disk mode, USB-C connector, activity LEDs for USB and SD card, and 120-megahertz CPU speed. (MHz). However, the Q1 takes things a step further than the Mk4, by adding a second SD card slot, a four times larger LCD screen, the ability to use batteries for power, an LED-illuminated QR code scanner and advanced scanning algorithms, and the huge 50-key QWERTY keyboard.
The Q1’s QR scanner is located on the top of the unit and is internally connected to the COLDCARD via a 2-wire serial port. According to Coinkite, this ensures that “there is less danger of the scanned data doing more than it seems.”
“Your bitcoin deposit address or other data is decoded by this dedicated module which is great at reading QR codes in every lighting condition, and also includes a super bright LED to illuminate your mountaintop cave! Think on a highly optimized supermarket scanner, not a cell phone camera struggling to read a QR code,” according to Coinkit Docs.
The new COLDCARD Q1 is available for presalebut its launch data is yet to be determined.
