Chinese tech company Changhong unveiled a new smartphone, the H2, that can scan objects to determine their molecular authenticity. I saw a live, hands-on demo of the smartphone’s sensor, where the company demonstrated how it could tell the difference between a real Viagra pill and a fake one.
It also told me which of two apples was sweeter and how many carbs were in a piece of cake. The H2 uses Scio molecular identification technology, developed by Consumer Physics and refined in partnership with Analog Devices (ADI).
The H2 is the first smartphone to employ this identification technology, which uses spectroscopy sensing techniques, as well as cloud computing, to identify objects. Changhong (known formally as Sichuan Changhong Electric Co.) showed the H2 at CES 2017, the big tech trade show in Las Vegas this week.
Image Credit: Dean Takahashi
Launching this year, the Changhong H2, with its advanced molecular material sensing and identification technology, will allow consumers to scan material and immediately receive actionable insights based on the object’s underlying chemical composition.
Remy Bonnasse, CEO of Boston-based Diet Sensor, said his company developed an app around the Scio sensor that you can use on the H2 to identify foods and their makeup. (It also works with a stand-alone Scio sensor launched as a separate device last year). The Diet Sensor app can weigh foods to get their mass, using a scale that is sold separately. Then it calculates exactly how many calories or carbs you are getting with a…