Is it a bird? A plane? Smartphone sent into sky for record attempt

A smartphone attached to a balloon took to the skies on Monday in an attempt to set a record for the highest livestream from such a device.

The Huawei Honor 8 phone was attached to a weather balloon also carrying a camera and other equipment, and set off from the SSC Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. The balloon was expected to burst at an altitude of 30,000 meters (98,425 ft) with the device then making its way back down by parachute.

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Peter Lundkvist of Huawei Technologies Sweden said the balloon reached 18,421 meters before bursting.

"Hopefully, Guinness (World Records) will accept this as a world record in highest smartphone livestreaming," he said.

(Reporting By Reuters Television; additional reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian)