as a way to get people interested - its cool. but the application of it is stupid.
Lets start at the top:
1) mining will make the phone hot. without a fan or heatsinks, its likely that even 5W worth of mining will get hot to the touch, and possibly a fire hazard if the phone is stuck in the couch under a blanket or pillow.
2) 5W is about 10GH worth of mining, maybe a bit more. Thats about 0.0001BTC/day when operating 24/7
3) That sort of power draw is completely impractical any time the phone isnt plugged in and on a non-flammable surface, so 2-4hrs of mining a day is more likely.
4) that means to earn $5 (the very cheapest price that a mining chip could be produced and integrated into a cellphone for) could take anything from 220days (at 24/7) to >6years if you mine 6hrs/day
5) The above does not factor in the power cost. which is probably 50% more costly than the bitcoins produced (for the average residential electricity cost)
short story: they would be better off issueing a $5 BTC voucher with the purchase of a phone, then to design a phone that makes pennies a day while operating at uncomfortable temperatures and having battery issues.
the same goes for any 'IoT' concepts that involve building bitcoin miners in places/objects that would be mining for anything less than 12hrs/day using residential eletricity.
And another thing on phones and laptops is battery life. If it mines when your not using it think of wifi, processor, ram, etc that would be running during off time.
I just don't see this for most products. Water heater, space heater, etc. Yes very easily could do. I just think this company keeps putting these out to get looked at. And possibly trying to get more investors. They can't believe all that they say even.
