YEREVAN, December 6 (RIA Novosti) – Armenia will launch its own tablet computer and smartphone next year, the government press service said Friday, on the heels of the launch of Russia’s first smartphone earlier this week.
Prototypes of the devices were presented at a Friday meeting of the country’s Industrial Council, chaired by Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
Sargsyan said an Armenian-American joint venture – Technology and Science Dynamics Inc/Armtab Technologies – would start producing the Armtab tablet and Armphone mobile in early 2014.
The company’s director, Vahan Shakaryan, said it had already developed test models of the tablet – running on an Android platform with 3G and WiFi capability with screen sizes of 7.85, 9, 9.7 and 10.1 inches – as well as a sample of the smartphone.
The devices’ software development and design will be done in Armenia, he said, while the physical assembly will be performed in the United States and Hong Kong.
Shakaryan claimed that the devices would be high-quality rivals to already well-known brands at a significantly lower price, though he did not elaborate on how much the gadgets would cost.
Russia announced the launch of its first smartphone from Russian modem developer Yota on Wednesday. The Android-based YotaPhone features a color LCD screen on one side and a black-and-white e-paper display on the other.
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev was presented with a YotaPhone as a gift from the head of Russia’s state-run technology corporation Rostech, who told him that American device giant Apple was “definitely” concerned about the new gadget.
