Russia's making its own mobile OS to boot out Apple and Google

Russia isn't happy about Apple and Google's domination of the smartphone marketplace, and might be about to build its own operating system in response.

Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov is said by local news organisation RBC to be in talks with Finnish company Jolla about creating an "independent" operating system based on the company's Sailfish OS.

The plan would be to make the new operating system the most widely used in Russia, replacing iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry within a decade.

Sailfishing for compliments

According to Nikiforov, Russia will be working with Finland and China (who is no stranger to making its own operating systems) to create the mobile software.

Nikiforov has a history of voicing his displeasure about Google's influence in the smartphone market, and in February publicly lambasted the search giant on Twitter.

The Russian government has also made it clear that it is willing to give grants to app developers for ditching the Android and iOS ecosystems.

Although the Russian government claims it is worried that Android is not open source enough, any government's involvement in the creation of an operating system should be approached with caution as it will give said government control over what apps and information its citizens can access.

Is the Russian government's desire to create a new mobile operating system an honest rebellion against the Apple and Google duopoly, or something a bit more sinister? We'll find out soon enough.

• Sailfish: the OS that wants to dethrone Android

from TechRadar: All latest feeds http://ift.tt/1FwxfCG
via IFTTT