Hardbit hardware wallet?

[Aswan]

why not with your phone?..

Because a phone has a few flaws in in this regard and generally.

First of all, exactly 0 of todays Tracking devices (Smartphones?) are truly open source. Yeah the OS might be open source but things like the baseband software etc are not, and this is where the trouble starts since this is easily used as a backdoor to not only robbing you of your privacy but also your bitcoins.
Secondly, almost all of todays tracking devices are able to establish connections to other things and therefore make it possible for others to access your data, bitcoins, location, habits, messages etc. via WLAN/Internet/Bluetooth etc.
Thirdly, those devices are a major privacy issue in almost all regards, which cang et even worse by using a Currency like bitcoin which links not only the current payment, but different addresses / transaction /purchases to you by just using your Tracing device, which is being monitored by who knows, to pay for something.


A Wallet device like Hardbit can solve most if not all of these issues. Yes it is on a Tracking device with disabled communication abilities and therefore the device is not completely open source but it's a step in the right direction and even tho Hardbit won't be the new thing every bitcoiner wants to have, it's a step in the right direction which can lead to a truly open source device featuring all these things.
Such a custom device then cannot connect to anything because it doesn't have the required hardware, which makes it even safer. It's also not as much of a privacy issue as a Tracking device and therefore stays true to the early bitcoin values that unfortunately seem to fade within the community. However, there are still a lot of us who value their privacy.

The only thing that needs additional adoption is merchants offering sending the Transactions for their customers. If this gets traction, you can just pay without having to carry around your own Internet capable device.

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[emkay47]

The only thing that needs additional adoption is merchants offering sending the Transactions for their customers. If this gets traction, you can just pay without having to carry around your own Internet capable device.
[/quote]

+1

[xu2gang1]

User manual is uploaded.
http://www.hardbit.cn/index.php/downloads
Hope it can answer most of your question.
For questions unsolved, I will answer them in the coming days.
In 1 or 2 days, the translation of techincal white payper will be finished.

[joshuad31]

Ok so I received two of my hardbits today.  I would like to direct people to the users manual which is located here:
http://www.hardbit.cn/index.php/downloads

As the instructions show you use this device with software installed on another android device.  How these two devices communicate are made clear in the users manual if you download the link.  All communication is done via QR codes.

The problem I have is this:
1. No way to upload your own private key.  You must use the private key that comes with your wallet.  This means we need to rely on a third party hardbit.cn to assure us that the private key they generated was either destroyed or is kept somewhere securely.
2. No way to download the private key on the wallet without using their proprietary backup system.
3. No way to via a usb connection transmit data to / from the device.

For these reasons I feel that this product will not suit my needs.  I will be returning this device because I need a device that fulfills the following requirements:

1. I have control of the private keys not a third party
2. If something were to happen to my private keys outside of the hardbit device then I can export the keys within the device to my computer in a format that can be loaded into any other bitcoin wallet.
3. USB is used to transmit data to the device to allow for the device to receive private keys generated outside of the device.  If those keys are lost usb is used to send private keys within the device to an application running on my computer such as blockchain.info.  USB is used to receive payment requests and it is used to send sign transactions to a wallet software such as blockchain.info.

If the above is your expectation also then DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT.

Hi ，I'm the R&D leader for Hardbit.
Thanks everyone for your interest in Hardbit.
We've sent 14 Hardbits out .2 already in costomers' hands.
Currently we are busy working on polishing online side software and user's manual.
So please forgive us on slow response of questions.
I think the user's manual will answer most of your questions.
And, the full techincal white paper is already published in Chinese. The English version is only 1/3 of the whole article. We will transate that in a week.
Here I put some core ideas why we develop this product:
1 To make a solution that is best effort for Bitcoin safety for dummies.
(For experienced IT guys, they really don't need hardware wallet.)
(Don't try to teach dummies how to protect their Bitcoins. The more they know, the more possibility they lose their Bitcoins)
so,,convenience is not taking into consideration. Only safety, safety ,safety
So please don't compare convenience with online wallets. Hardbit will perfectly lose.
2 To make a system that online client and offline client can come from different providers. This system is based on a simple communication protocol. (An open-protocol system is much more powerful than an open-source software), this system will help build the offline payment eco system of Democurrency.
3 The hardware must be affordable and portable, and last but not least, not easily recognized as a Bitcoin wallet.

[Alley]

Very good points.  I don't think I can trust a device with a private key I didn't produce myself offline.

[Aswan]

Ok so I received two of my hardbits today.  I would like to direct people to the users manual which is located here:
http://www.hardbit.cn/index.php/downloads

As the instructions show you use this device with software installed on another android device.  How these two devices communicate are made clear in the users manual if you download the link.  All communication is done via QR codes.

The problem I have is this:
1. No way to upload your own private key.  You must use the private key that comes with your wallet.  This means we need to rely on a third party hardbit.cn to assure us that the private key they generated was either destroyed or is kept somewhere securely.
2. No way to download the private key on the wallet without using their proprietary backup system.
3. No way to via a usb connection transmit data to / from the device.

For these reasons I feel that this product will not suit my needs.  I will be returning this device because I need a device that fulfills the following requirements:

1. I have control of the private keys not a third party
2. If something were to happen to my private keys outside of the hardbit device then I can export the keys within the device to my computer in a format that can be loaded into any other bitcoin wallet.
3. USB is used to transmit data to the device to allow for the device to receive private keys generated outside of the device.  If those keys are lost usb is used to send private keys within the device to an application running on my computer such as blockchain.info.  USB is used to receive payment requests and it is used to send sign transactions to a wallet software such as blockchain.info.

If the above is your expectation also then DO NOT PURCHASE THIS PRODUCT.

You are talking about "the private key". Does this mean the device supports only one address?

[MrWDunne]

I just ordered 4 of them .
Payment was accepted and got a mail from them that they will be shipped on Monday .

Will post the unboxing here .

There is not much info on hardbit.cn . I mean no technical data and stuff .
But i hope its open source , or it will be hard to trust them .

Also , open source will help us install some cool wallpapers and BTC receiving and sending sounds , I guess !!

It , looked good , could not resist myself , so ordered 4 of the .
Hope they turn out good .

I paid for 2 plastic Trezors in Sep. last year , have received nothing , and they have asked for 12 more weeks .
And those were 1 BTC each , these are damn cheap with cool display and rugid body .

Though , i wonder , how's its battery life .

At the time 1 BTC was $100

[Peter R]

Here's a related project that I'm working on.  It’s called “sigsafe” and it is an electronic key tag that signs bitcoin transactions over a non-exploitable air gap (NFC).  The device is probably too simple to be considered a hardware wallet; instead, it’s more like a paper wallet that can produce ECDSA signatures.  

I just started a thread in the "Project Development" section: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=610453.0

Here's the white paper: http://www.sigsafe.org

[xoun]

Ok so I received two of my hardbits today.  I would like to direct people to the users manual which is located here:
http://www.hardbit.cn/index.php/downloads

As the instructions show you use this device with software installed on another android device.  How these two devices communicate are made clear in the users manual if you download the link.  All communication is done via QR codes.

The problem I have is this:
1. No way to upload your own private key.  You must use the private key that comes with your wallet.  This means we need to rely on a third party hardbit.cn to assure us that the private key they generated was either destroyed or is kept somewhere securely.
2. No way to download the private key on the wallet without using their proprietary backup system.
3. No way to via a usb connection transmit data to / from the device.

I have been using this wallet for a week, and I had time to explore a bit the device.

As regards your concerns:
1. I agree that it would be much better if there was a way to upload our own private key. However, it seems that the key is generated by the device when you first use it and not pre-loaded. Indeed, I found a way to reset the device (first time it was accidentaly) and each time I got a different bitcoin address.
2. I agree, I don 't like that.
3. I also found a way to connect the device via USB and transmit data to / from the device

Btw, I have also another concern: when I do a payment, I have to wait the transaction to be confirmed and then to sync the device to be able to create another transaction... I don't understand the purpose of this restriction and if a developer is reading the forum I would like to have it deleted.

[Alley]

How does the backup system work?

Need a dev to tell us how the private key is generated.

[Catmoonglow]

Nice warning on their site. It's almost telling us "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED"

http://www.hardbit.cn/index.php/component/users/?view=login&Itemid=124&return=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5oYXJkYml0LmNuL2luZGV4LnBocC9teS1vcmRlcnM=

[hamza171]

Or you can just use ur smart phone , I mean it's pointless to have another block in you your pocket

[jeffreylin]

Hi Everyone,

i did try to order the hardbit hardware wallet on their website, but when the order was created i m a little confuse on the reference number when i transfer the bitcoin to them.
 my order number is D11 and A2B3.
so what is the reference number i should input when transfer the bitcoin to them?


anyone care to share or help me?


Regards
Jefffrey Lin

[xu2gang1]

Thanks alot for the review.
We had many conversation with customers and potential customers after the product release.
From our angle, HB01 is not a prototype, it's absolutely safe both theoratically and pratically. But we understand that from customer's angle, it IS a prototype, because it can't answer many questions from customers' side.
Then we suddenly found that we've put ourself into a pitfall:a good person have to prove by himself that he is a good guy.
As you know, to make a safe, easy of use, affordable hardware wallet is already a very hard job, self-proving is an additional work and maybe even harder.
But , to be responsible for our customers, and to develop our business, we WILL do this.
One proof we've already done and we feel very lucky is that we chose QR code as the only communicating method:no automatic transfer,all information exchanging visible, information can be analysed by 3rd party software.


Answers for some questions:
1 importing a wallet file to Hardbit .
Importing existing wallets is unsafe from hardware wallet's point of view. Our idea is to provide a once-send-all dedicated online software, for those who's Hardbit is lost or broken. I.e, import the backup wallet file to the software, input a target address(recommends an address created by another Hardbit),input password, and the software sends all the Bitcoin in the backup file to the new address. This software will be available soon.
And , we will disclose the wallet backup file format, so that somebody can make a third-party software (even a wallet software) to handle our backup.

2 USB connection
Any automatic transfer method is unsafe from hardware wallet point of view. Because even we are good guys, we can't guarantee that a super-smart hacker can find way to invade our system and steal the private key.
For playing and testing it, you can connect it to USB. But for real storage of Bitcoin, please keep it away from USB. We've provided charging wire and plug.

BTW, thanks to the Bitcoin price surge, we've lowered the product price to 0.269BTC.

Alan Xu
On behalf of Hardbit team

[Alley]

How do I translate the app to English?

[ozbitcoinexpress]

Just saw this Hardbit on Ebay, I really want one but they are fairly expensive. I dont know if they are worth it just yet when you can buy a smartphone.... http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291155150042

[feverpitch]

Hot damn those look so cool!
Bit pricey right now, but I can definitey see these hitting the mainstream markets. 

[awrelll]

it's a total trash. it's not a offline solution or cold storage. it has wi-fi, bluetooth, 3G. a waste of btc for buyers...

[ozbitcoinexpress]

I had a feeling it would be trash. Its just a re-coded phone. Nuff said.

[zeetubes]

I had a feeling it would be trash. Its just a re-coded phone. Nuff said.

is that a photo of the hardbit wallet or the phone it's originally based on?