One of the many recurring themes which has emerged of late, is the notion of security. Or probably more correctly referred to as ‘the lack of security’. This is an issue which has become so prevalent that it has begun creating its own sub-division of smartphones. These are the ‘secure phones’. As a result, there are now a number of companies making secure devices which are designed to increase your level of privacy and reduce any third party’s ability to snoop on you or for your data to be compromised in any way. Now, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal is suggesting that China is also working on their own secure smartphone, built in China, running on a Chinese OS and using Chinese components.
The smartphone in question does not seem to be one which will be targeted towards the mass Chinese smartphone market and instead, this is being designed with the intention of protection Chinese officials and government workers from the possibility of any International or foreign snoopers. What makes it lack of mass usage evident is that there are a number of what would be considered ‘essential features’ missing from the phone, for it to appeal to the wider domestic market. For instance, the device is rumored to not contain the likes of a camera, GPS and will not make use of certain connectivity like WiFi or Bluetooth. While that may sound somewhat strange for a smartphone of today, the idea is that this smartphone is as secure as it can be and the removal of the camera, connections and GPS is designed to mitigate the aspects which could prove to be the most vulnerable.
Of course, the biggest hurdle for a Chinese homegrown secure smartphone will be the internal aspects as many handsets in China do run on Android (or a derivative of it). Well, it seems the secure phone in China will come running on its own operating system which is being designed in-house. Not to mention, it will also come equipped with all Chinese internal components including a homegrown processor. Interestingly, it is ZTE that the powers-that-be in China have reportedly turned towards to build the secure smartphone.