China, wary of operating systems from the Western world, has built its own smartphone OS which is claimed to be better in terms of security than IOS and Android.
Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai-based Liantong Network Communications Technology unveiled COS (China Operating System) last week.
The operating system is designed for use with many devices including Smartphones , TV Set Top Boxes and Personal computers and is being called as the strategic product for China's national security as per the New York Times reports as it allows only one app store, the official one, so as to ensure that all applications are examined to be safe and non-pirated compared with Android, which is open to any apps.
US surveillance and the end of support for Windows XP reportedly played a role in the system's creation. Liantong Deputy GM Chen Feili said the ultimate goal is to make COS China's main operating system.
While Windows is the predominant desktop OS in China, Android commands about 90 percent of China's smartphone market, with iOS taking most of the rest, IDC reports.
COS developers have insisted that the system has its own independent intellectual property right as it is all original work from the underlying code to the user interface, even though it has absorbed the merits of other open-source systems.
China's claims about COS' origins raised suspicion, the Times reported:
“Its full name should be Copy Other System,” said one user with the handle “byxu,” in one of the most upvoted comments on [social network] Sina weibo. “It’s not open source because they’re terrified that others will see that the source code is the same as Android, and accuse them of cheating the government out of money.”
Though COS phones aren't available commercially yet, China Mobile and China Telecom have reportedly been testing devices running the operating system.
Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Shanghai-based Liantong Network Communications Technology unveiled COS (China Operating System) last week.
The operating system is designed for use with many devices including Smartphones , TV Set Top Boxes and Personal computers and is being called as the strategic product for China's national security as per the New York Times reports as it allows only one app store, the official one, so as to ensure that all applications are examined to be safe and non-pirated compared with Android, which is open to any apps.
US surveillance and the end of support for Windows XP reportedly played a role in the system's creation. Liantong Deputy GM Chen Feili said the ultimate goal is to make COS China's main operating system.
While Windows is the predominant desktop OS in China, Android commands about 90 percent of China's smartphone market, with iOS taking most of the rest, IDC reports.
COS developers have insisted that the system has its own independent intellectual property right as it is all original work from the underlying code to the user interface, even though it has absorbed the merits of other open-source systems.
China's claims about COS' origins raised suspicion, the Times reported:
“Its full name should be Copy Other System,” said one user with the handle “byxu,” in one of the most upvoted comments on [social network] Sina weibo. “It’s not open source because they’re terrified that others will see that the source code is the same as Android, and accuse them of cheating the government out of money.”
Though COS phones aren't available commercially yet, China Mobile and China Telecom have reportedly been testing devices running the operating system.
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