<IT WORLD> Moscow subverts Big
Brother By Martin J Young
HUA HIN, Thailand - It has been well
publicized that Google collects personal data from
Android users in order to target them with
advertising. Less than pleased that that sensitive
information could find its way into US government,
the Russian defense ministry has developed its own
stripped-down and encrypted version of the
operating system especially for government and
military devices. This week it was announced that
the prototype platform would be available to the
public by the end of the year.
The
consumer appeal of a secure system, safe from the
snooping eyes of Google, may not be enough to
overcome the proposed US$460 price-tag the
government want to place on it. Developers at the
ministry's Central Scientific Research Institute
stated that their main client is the state and its
top brass: "The military
version will be shock and
water-proof."
According to production unit
director Andrei Starikovsky "The operating system
has all the functional capabilities of an Android
operating system but none of its hidden features
that send users' private data to Google
headquarters."
The software has been in
the works for around five years as Russian
ministries and energy firms have little faith in
Google's security. "They are not afraid of Google
or the US government stealing things per se. They
are afraid of leaks in general," the operating
system's project manager Dmitry Mikhailov told
AFP.
The Russian Mobile Operating System
(RoMOS) is virtually hackproof and uses Russia's
own GPS alternative, the Global Navigation
Satellite System (GLONASS), as a precaution
against the US government shutting down its GPS
system.
Market prospects for the first
Russian-assembled 10 inch tablets running the
operating system could be bright if enough wealthy
Russians value their privacy enough to warrant
paying for services and software that is available
for free elsewhere.
Software The
battle for browser supremacy is still being
dominated by Microsoft's Internet Explorer however
the second place skirmish between Firefox and
Chrome is getting very close. According to
research firm Net Applications, all versions of IE
accounted for 48.73% of the global browser market
share for August, Mozilla's Firefox has an 18.21%
share and Google's Chrome, which saw slight
decline in June and July, is a close third with
17.37%.
In the operating system arena
Windows 7 finally passed the 11 year-old Windows
XP, according to Netmarketshare, whose figures
include PC use in Asia, where pirate copies of the
software are rife. The diehard Windows XP has
lasted so long because of its use by government
organizations and large enterprises that are slow
to upgrade and often reluctant to change.
Nevertheless, XP still has an impressive
42.52% share of the global operating system
market, and was just edged out for the first time
last month by Windows 7, with 42.76%. Windows
Vista is dying a deserved death and now only has
6.15% market share, enabling Apple's Mac OS to
overtake with 7.13%.
The total market
share for Microsoft's OS has barely moved in the
last 12 months with a miniscule decline of 0.09%
from 91.86% in October 2011 to 91.77% today. So,
regardless of all the Apple hype, in the personal
computer operating system environment, it is still
planet Windows.
Telecoms Smart-phone
manufacturers are clamoring to grab a piece of a
market that seems to know no bounds. Apple and
Samsung have taken the limelight in recent months
with their epic battle for total domination but
there is room for more, Nokia and Motorola both
released new handsets this week to vie for a slice
of the pie.
The Lumia 920 and Lumia 820,
running Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 platform,
represent Nokia's flagship range, they are
impressive devices boasting some serious
technology including a large 4.5 inch display,
dwarfing the iPhone's 3.5 inch, wireless charging,
and an advanced PureView camera with optical image
stabilization.
Motorola unveiled three
Android powered smart-phones under its Razr brand
at an event this week, the first product launches
under new owner Google. The company has not
produced a winning product since the original and
highly popular Razr clamshell phone launched in
2004.
The new units, Droid Razr HD, Droid
Razr M and Droid Razr Maxx HD, boast equally
impressive tech with longer battery life which can
stream video for 10 hours or enable 21 hours of
talk time, Motorola radio components for fast 4G
LTE connectivity, and an even larger 4.7 inch
screen.
Prices and availability for the
new Nokia and Motorola handsets were not
specified. However, it is plain to see that the
smart-phone launch rush is on as Apple is expected
to reveal the iPhone 5 next week - and the hype,
as usual, is likely to be excessive.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times
Online correspondent based in Thailand.
(Copyright 2012 Asia Times Online
(Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please
contact us about sales, syndication and
republishing.)
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