Aurora is not yet as well known as Android and iOS, but Rostelecom believes that this OS has a bright future. It's time to get acquainted with the advantages and disadvantages of the new "OS".
The situation with Huawei, which the United States accused of industrial espionage, showed that international conflicts can negatively affect even the mobile market, which seems cosmopolitan and extremely sustainable. And although the sanctions against Huawei have already been lifted, no one will return the nerve cells to the employees of the Chinese company - they had to endure an extremely unpleasant month, during which Huawei tried frantically to construct its own OS. Could something like this happen again? Of course - especially since the United States has such an eccentric president, prone to impulsive decisions.
In view of this, the decision of the Russian authorities to develop and promote their own operating system looks quite reasonable and far-sighted. And such an operating system already exists - it is called "Aurora". "Aurora" is not as functional as the foreign Android, but it is only ours.
Where did the Aurora operating system come from?
In 2011, two tech giants Nokia and Intel partnered to create an operating system that was able to adapt to any user's requirements. This is how MeeGo appeared – an extremely curious “OS” that was used on only one smartphone model, Nokia N9.
Russian users had few opportunities to get acquainted with MeeGo, because Nokia N9 was not sold in domestic retail. Abroad, MeeGo received a lot of positive feedback from both ordinary users and experts - but still quickly "sank into oblivion". Nokia refused to develop this OS and decided to focus on Windows Mobile, which seemed to them a more promising project.
However, a group of enthusiasts broke away from Nokia, forming a new company Jolla and developing MeeGo, on the basis of which Sailfish Mobile OS grew. The beta version of Sailfish OS 1.0 appeared in November 2013. After 2 years, Jolla released the second version of the operating system, which is still relevant to this day.
In 2015, another significant event happened to Jolla: Russian businessman G. Beryozkin, a representative of the top 200 most successful businessmen in Russia. Berezkin founded the company OMP (Open Mobile Platform) on the territory of the Russian Federation. Its goal was to create Sailfish Mobile OS RUS, a Russian "folk" operating system based on the software components of the original Sailfish.
In the fall of 2016, Sailfish Mobile OS RUS was completed and added to the register of domestic software under the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications. In other words, a native Russian version of the Finnish "OS" Sailfish appeared.
In 2018, Rostelecom bought out a 75% stake in Sailfish from OMP, although it was a deal more like a show, as OMP is part of the Rostelecom state corporation. Sailfish began to be financed from the budget and received a new, more patriotic name - "Aurora". The President of Rostelecom Mikhail Oseevsky spoke about the reasons for the renaming. According to him, the domestic mobile system should have a name in Russian that is easy to remember and filled with energy.
Why is AURORA OS good?
Aurora has a number of advantages:
- Increased security. Aurora supports operating system-level encryption and boasts strong MDM algorithms. It is for this reason that the public sector of Russia was transferred to the domestic operating system.
- Original interface. The Aurora interface may seem outlandish to a user accustomed to iOS or Android. Many operations are performed differently than on Android and iOS. For example, to change the keyboard language, you have to press and hold the space bar. However, if the user gives Aurora a chance and uses it for at least a week, he will find that managing a smartphone with this OS is even more convenient, if only because it recognizes a lot of gestures.
- Integration with many cloud services. There are at least a dozen services to which Aurora is able to upload data. The user himself can choose which one to resort to - there are popular options, like Google Drive, and more exotic ones (Flickr).
- Minimum default programs. By default, the menu contains only the essentials - Contacts, Gallery, Messages, Browser, and so on. And, by the way, any pre-installed program can be permanently deleted - when updating the OS, it will not return.
- Complete freedom when working with files. Aurora is sort of the opposite of iOS. The Russian OS is open, although some components may be closed source. You can install applications from Android to "Aurora", so that a useless brick smartphone with the Russian "Operation" will definitely won't.
- Economic energy consumption. Smartphones with Aurora will work from the battery longer than the analogues with foreign OS - at least they promise the developers.
On "Aurora" there is a function of recording calls. This can also be attributed to the advantages of the "Ourser", because, for example, it is impossible to perform with built-in means of recording of telephone conversations. Apple believes that the fixation of calls violates the human right to confidentiality of personal data.
Does the "Aurora" disadvantages?
The disadvantages of "Aurora" is also not deprived. Among the main users call the following:
- Unusual control. If Android is more oriented on the taps, then in the "Aurora" in the course of swipes - to press on the screen is rare.
- The mediocre integration of applications with each other. On Android, let's say, a snapshot from the gallery can be sent anywhere - even in the messenger, even in the cloud. Aurora can not boast.
- Lack of control center - the interface does not allow you to quickly start Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
What phones on Aurora and Sailfish can be bought?
Gadgets running Sailfish is quite a bit - with all of them you can get acquainted on the official website of Jolla. Mobile devices on the Aurora operating system and is less.
The first smartphone with the "OS Operation" Sailfish was released in 2013 and was named the same as the manufacturing company - Jolla. Here is a small roller, representing the device:
Smartphone Jolla officially sold in Russia (engaged in distribution Online store BUYON), but he did not become popular. Many people consider the overestimated price (about 20 thousand rubles) with mediocre specifications.
The second phone from Jolla with Sailfish "on board" came out in 2016. It received the best screen and more capacious battery, but Performance and the camera remained at the level below average.
Buy Jolla C Now you can now in the online store " Bayon" at a fairly moderate price - About 8 thousand rubles.
At the same time, when Jolla was prepared for the release of a C-smartphone, other manufacturers were interested in "Ourser" Sailfish - even if not the most famous. The Finnish OS was equipped with the first in the world modular smartphone FAIRPHONE 2.
Another gadget on Sailfish Jolla introduced in a duet with a young Indian manufacturer Intex on the exhibition MWC 2016. The smartphone was called Aqua Fish and design, almost completely copied from the first Jolla.
Aqua Fish gadget could succeed in Russia - for its small price (about 80 dollars) he has very decent characteristics. However, in the territory of the Russian Federation, it is not officially sold. Order Apparatus from Intex permanently by eBay.
Sailfish operating system in 2016 received another extremely curious device - Turing Phone, named after the famous British mathematics. Turing Phone is interesting in what consists of the so-called Liquidmorfium - a material that is stronger than titanium and steel.
However, Turing was hardly approved that his name appears in such a dubious project. Turing Phone was bundled on all fronts: Not only began to send gadgets on pre-orders after a whole year later (!), So I also sent not what promised. Initially, the Turing Phone was to have an android when and why the manufacturer decided to resort to Sailfish - a mystery.
In the same 2016, the company "Open Mobile Platform" was adjusted by the first apparatus on Sailfish OS Rus - Ermak, with a phenomenal value of 2 thousand dollars. "Ermak" is distinguished by outstanding reliability - in particular, it is able to transmit information on closed communication channels.
All major networks are "disruled" from sales, it is reasonable to calculate that with such a price tag of the smartphone on the mass market there is nothing to do.
In 2017, the Firm OMP still released a publicly available smartphone operating in the Russian version of Sailfish - inOI R7. This gadget is characterized by a high degree of personal data protection, and therefore is positioned as a smartphone for the corporate sector.
Inoi R7 was painted the first smartphone on the "Aurora". Despite the fact that the device was inexpensive (cost - about 12 thousand rubles), its sales were negligible. Later, Inoi decided to abandon the experiments and forget the "Aurora" as a terrible dream and a symbol of a commercial failure. The new INOI models work running traditional Android and are sold significantly better.
Last for 2019, the Aquarius NS208 tablet was the Gadget with Aurora. He was shown at the exhibition Digital Industry of Industrial Russia (CIPR). This is a 8-inch Tablet with 8-core processor, NFC and fingerprint scanner. It is reported that Aquarius NS208 fully complies with the requirements of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
Nothing is known about the cost of the device yet. Aquarius reports that the tablet will go on mass sale only by the beginning of 2020. In addition, the manufacturer announces the continuation of cooperation with Rostelecom - other models of tablets will also work on Aurora.
could Aurora become a third power in the future?
Market experts initially expressed cautious optimism towards the Russian Sailfish, which later became Aurora. The situation with the “blockade” of Huawei should have played into the hands of Aurora, since the Russian “OS” looked like the most obvious alternative. It was even reported that the Chinese and Russian sides have already begun negotiations on possible cooperation.
However, it turned out that Huawei intends to act not as a merchant, but as a seller. They can deal with their problems themselves, because they have Hongmeng, a proprietary OS with which 1 million smartphones have already gone on sale. The Chinese company wants to offer its hardware to us, because it believes (quite reasonably, by the way) that an attempt to release the next Yermak will again lead to the fact that Russian production will be ridiculed.
Whether Aurora will become a third force after Android and iOS is too early to judge. Rostelecom has great ambitions, but they do not yet correspond to the possibilities, since at the moment it is obvious: Aurora is not for sale, it is used only by those who are forced to do it, namely civil servants. Any attempt to “wedge” a Russian development into the mobile market invariably turns into a failure, and so far there are no prerequisites for the experiment with Aurora to become more successful than with the conditional Yermak and Yandex. Telephone.
