It seems that Russia's defence ministry has little faith in Google's operating systems: it has just unveiled its own encrypted version that has the remarkably familiar feel of an Android. Russia's very first smart prototype was presented on the sidelines of a Berlin electronics show this week to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin - an avowed nationalist who oversees the military's technological innovation.
A slimmed down version of the operating system in computer tablet form is actually meant to go public by the end of the year at a cost of 15,000 rubles ($460) a pop. But it would hardly be a defence gadget with consumer appeal. Developers at the ministry's Central Scientific Research Institute said their main client is - and will probably always be - the state and its top brass.
"The military version will be shock- and water-proof," Russian media quoted production unit director Andrei Starikovsky as telling Rogozin at the presentation. "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 researcher stressed.
Russia's top officials have been unnerved by the idea that data collected and stored for years in Google databases could slip into the hands of the US government and expose some of their most secret and sensitive communications. Similar fears have already driven other expensive military projects with rewards for the masses that come primarily as an afterthought.
One such invention is GLONASS - a rival of the Global Position System (GPS) meant to help generals train their missiles on targets without relying on a US system that could be shut down as a precaution at any point. GLONASS suffered through initial delays and some satellite crashes but was eventually included in the software of Apple's latest iPhone.
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