After Apple Visit, Russia Creating Copycat 4G Phone?
A little over two months ago, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev toured Silicon Valley, making a stop at Apple headquarters in Cupertino where Steve Jobs gave the Mac-happy leader an iPhone 4.
Some CoM readers wrote in to ask us what we thought the visit would mean for Russia and the future of tech there.
We might have an answer: on Monday, Sergei Chemezov, the head of a state- run holding company Russian Technologies State Corp. showed off a prototype of the country’s first domestically-manufactured 4G smartphone.
Chemezov and Medvedev met to discuss tech advances taking place the country, including broadband internet and digital TV and creating a Linux-based national software program.
The "Russian iPhone?" The RT video of Medvedev with the prototype. Click image for full video.
The 4G phone is expected to launch next year under the Yota brand, which already makes a portable wi-fi “egg” that looks vaguely Apple-inspired in its design.
But from the transcript from the Kremlin translated by the Wall Street Journal, it sounds like they may need to take that iCopycat design back to the drawing board, or borrow the president’s iPhone for tips:
Medvedev (holding handset): Not even sure where to press …
Chemezov: It’s still a prototype.
Medvedev: But this is entirely our [Russian-made] product, which will be produced in our factories?
Chemezov: For the time being, unfortunately, we only make it in Taiwan. But soon we’ll completely switch over to production in Russia.
We’ll be curious to see how the final design of the phone, which reportedly has two screens, may be Apple inspired.
Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on 
