Turing's latest phone comes with a digital assistant called Sir Alan

For a company that calls itself a phone maker, Turing Robotics Industries (TRI) doesn’t have a great reputation when it comes to actually shipping phones. The firm’s first handset, the “ultra-secure” Turing Phone, was repeatedly delayed, and when

it did finally reach consumers, came with a different operating system to the one originally advertised (Sailfish instead of Android). That’s perhaps why TRI announced today

 that it’s partnering with Chinese tech company TCL to make the Turing Phone Appassionato.

TCL is one of the world’s largest phone makers, selling devices under a number of brands 
including Alcatel and BlackBerry. According to TRI CEO Syl Chao, this expertise

— along with “invaluable feedback” gathered from owners of the first Turing Phone —

will help TRI improve its mobile offerings in 2017

As with previous devices announced by TRI, the Appassionato (which was “soft-launched” 
earlier this year) sounds gratuitously high end. According to TRI’s spec sheet, 

it’ll be constructed from the metal alloy Liquidmorphium; will feature a diamond-like carbon 
coating providing a “high-tech ceramic feel”; and will use ultra-strong sapphire glass for its display. 

That’s the same material that Apple uses for its camera lenses, and that the iPhone maker failed to 
manufacture in large enough quantities for its own displays.

The Appassionato will also come with a digital assistant and concierge service dubbed “Sir Alan,” 
which will combine traditional voice controls and on-call human helpers to offer “an intimate yet 
intelligent experience.”

 TRI says it aims to ship the phone to customers in September this year, and that the 
device will come in two variants — the “elite” PX8, costing $1,099; and the “premium-luxury 
edition” GX8, costing $1,599. It’s not clear at this point what distinguishes the two models.