Slashdot Mirror
Android Tablet Gives Rare Glimpse At North Korean Tech
alphadogg writes "An Android tablet brought back from North Korea by a tourist has provided a glimpse at some of the restrictions placed on IT users in the famously secretive country. The Samjiyon is the third tablet to have gone on sale in North Korea. It was unveiled at a trade show in the capital, Pyongyang, last September and received some coverage on state television, but few westerners have had a chance to see it up close. The tablet was likely manufactured outside of North Korea and the hardware itself is fairly unremarkable, but the software and the usage restrictions placed on the device provide some insights about life in the country."
You know, maybe it would be actually nice to list a few examples of the restrictions in the summary to see if I care to even read the article or not. (Yeah, yeah I know this is slashdot, who even reads the article.. even more reason to post examples)
The most interesting thing to me is that it includes an analog TV tuner, which is preset to only receive a handful of specific channels controlled by the state. I've never heard of an integrated TV tuner in a tablet.
The only other "unique" thing about the tablet is that he couldn't get the wifi to connect to anything, yet there is a web browser with 4 bookmarks to North Korean sites. The author surmises that it will only connect to hotspots that are proprietary in some way.
Better known as 318230.
It turns you in.
I wonder how many North Koreans could even afford such a device.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
It's not NoKo tech. It's Chinese hardware and American (and other) software imported to NoKo.
Given the war on general purpose computing , North Korea is far ahead of us technologically. We won't get this level of responsible computing for at least a few more years.
TOP level government workers
Still less restrictive than a Windows Surface
http://saveie6.com/
He/she was probably referring to the restrictions being put inside those tablets, and probably some big brother-style tech embedded in them
He/she was probably referring to the restrictions being put inside those tablets, and probably some big brother-style tech embedded in them
... what, are they running iOS then?
Packet capture everything coming and going out of it. I'm curious to know what exactly it "phones home" and if there's any correlation to user input or function engaged on the device.
Life is not for the lazy.
Oh look a puff piece on a disgusting regime. Anything that could give this government even a shred of legitimacy should be boycotted.
RUNNING DOG of capitalist exploiter! You BRAINWASHED by PROPAGANDA of YANKEE IMPERIALIST!!! Want censor truth of glorious DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC of KOREA paradise for working mans and womans. NOT TO CRITICIZE BELOVED LEADER!!!!!!
I thought Apple tablets were a walled garden! This sounds even worse, except for the garden part. The TV tuner part is useful, and would be useful on North American tablets for watching local digital television, except its so much more fun to waste bandwidth by broadcasting data redundantly over limited spectrum, and not just that, but terrestrial digital tv broadcasts are free, and where's the fun in that... make people pay for what they can otherwise get for free.
To be fair, this was found at the gift shop of a restaurant. That is not exactly the place you would go for the best tech bargains.
I am extremely skeptical when the US government tries to shovel propaganda in my direction.
You should be skeptical of all propaganda, but it does tell you a lot about the country that produces it. Try reading some North Korean propaganda: http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm and tell me what sort of country produces something like that.
So while I am certain that life in North Korea is nothing like we are told, I douubt that it is significantly better than it appears to be from the outside.
and probably some big brother-style tech embedded in them
So you're saying that it runs vanilla Android?
Tourists? North Korea? Uh?
Analog TV broadcast service in SK shut down completely on December 2012. It's now fully digital, using ATSC signal compatible with USA.
Therefore there is no way that the tablet in question will be able to pick up any SK TV broadcast even if it was not restricted.
Serving time in Aristotelean prison for violating laws of physics
You should be skeptical of all propaganda, but it does tell you a lot about the country that produces it. Try reading some North Korean propaganda: http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm and tell me what sort of country produces something like that.
Let's take a look at some of the current articles, shall we?
War Veteran Delegates Leave
Delegation of Korean War Veterans of Russia Leaves
S. Korean Believers Slam IS's Interference in Election
S. Korean Students Protest against IS's Interference in Election
DPRK's Victory in War Marked in Bulgaria, Czech Republic
Anniversary of Korean People's Victory in War Celebrated in Various Countries
Kim Jong Un Meets Women Soccer Players
Kim Jong Un Watches Men's Soccer Match
Hey, it looks pretty similar to Slashdot to me!
[SHOW SOME LENIENCY TOWARDS
and a rip off.
Very likely they applied a "foreigner tax" similar to what were common (it probably still is) in Shenzhen, China in the 90's where many vendors applied a Chinese, Overseas Chinese and Everybody else price. The price I would pay for some veggies or fruit in a food stall were several times higher than the price a local paid. It's a practice that most people from affluent nations that have travelled to poor countries are familiar with, it should come as no surprise that the same is done in North Korea.
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
Come to think of it, different prices based on nationality is often not about the poor charging the rich more, just ask any Australian that ever bought Photoshop locally and only later learned what Americans pay for the exact same 1's and 0's about his opinion on the matter.
"I have downloaded hundreds and hundreds of records, why would I care if somebody downloads ours?" Robin Pecknold
Since he only got to tinker with it in the shop, but didn't actually buy one, then he didn't get the chance to examine it's bowels closely. for example, he notes that he could see configuration files relevant to WiFi, but couldn't get it to work. So, hardly a forensic investigation, more a quick poke around during a fag break.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
I ran into the same thing in Lancaster County, PA. Apparently there's a price/tax structure for Amish/Mennonites and everyone else. I bought some items at a farm stand, and noticed that there were two registers - one used for 'locals' and the other for 'the English'. Not sure why there's a difference. I'm fairly certain the totals were different, but I'm not sure if it was the price or the tax.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Among several foreign software packages on the tablet is a Korean version of 'Angry Birds.' The game's maker, Rovio, didn't respond to requests for comment on its inclusion in a North Korean tablet.
That's because it's counterfeit, you fool! Look at the photo. It's clearly a hackjob. Pay particular attention to the failure to properly use an alpha channel around elements on the screen.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
Yes! Go frack yourself Obama! Oh we weren't talking about a regime that circumcised their citizen's right? Lock people without reasons or warrants?
I feel like I'm in an episode of The Sopranos. :)
Dark Reflection
Since he only got to tinker with it in the shop, but didn't actually buy one, then he didn't get the chance to examine it's bowels closely.
Which part of brought back did you not understand. It is quite clear he bought it for the $200 USD.
Which doesn't claim that he actually purchased it. Or indeed, if he did purchase it, it isn't at all clear if he'd have got an export license for it. I wouldn't assume that he'd have been allowed to leave the country with such equipment - and I'm decidedly unlikely to spring $200 on a casual temporary purchase. (I'm also quite annoyed at fucking politicians getting in the way of one of my clients sending me to work in DPRK ; would have been marvellous for the CV. But ... Fucking politicians!)
All of the tests described could have been done in a few minutes with a modern smart phone set up as a WiFi hotspot (even if it had no mobile phone service connection), you'd expect an internet-capable device to be able to connect, even if it couldn't resolve anything off it's local (WiFi) network.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"