North Korea makes home grown Arirang smartphone
By Dave Lee Technology reporter, BBC News North Korea says it has produced its first home-grown smartphone, but experts have disputed its origins. The Arirang handset, described as a "hand phone" in state media, was shown to leader Kim Jong-un during a factory tour. The country has had a mobile network since 2008, but activity is heavily monitored and restricted. Last year the country launched a tablet, but it later emerged it was likely to have been made in China. Clues to the tablet's origin were uncovered by Martyn Williams, an expert on North Korean technology, who noted that parts of the tablet's software code suggested links to a manufacturer in Hong Kong. The Arirang smartphone, named after a popular folk song, was unlikely to have been made in the country, Mr Williams added. He noted that actual manufacturing was shown, and that the device was "probably made to order by a Chinese manufacturer and shipped to the May 11 Factory where they are inspected...
