ruff teddy: RoMOS is Russia's take on Android OS, shields users from Google's prying eyes

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

RoMOS is Russia's take on Android OS, shields users from Google's prying eyes

Whether it be Google's penchant for collecting search and browsing histories or Street View WiFi information, the company is no stranger to concerns about its healthy appetite for user data. Apparently, Russia also shares those worries as the country has produced its own take on the Android operating system minus Google's data collection. Unveiled at IFA in Berlin, the Russian Mobile Operating System or RoMOS reportedly mimics the look and feel of Android and works with Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System. The OS is scheduled to debut in tablet form by the end of the year, though RoMOS' project manager says it can serve as a smartphone operating system, too. The main customers for RoMOS will reportedly be the country's military, which has always had concerns about data collected by Google from Russian devices falling into US government hands. In addition to a military version of the RoMOS tablet, a consumer version will be launched as well. Just don't expect the variant for the hoi polloi to have the same bells and whistles. The military version, for example, not only will be waterproof -- it'll be shock proof, too.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software