R-FON (smartphone)

The main articles are:

• Smartphones (Global Market)
• Smartphones (Russian market)

R-FON is a joint project of the Russian developer of system and infrastructure software "STC IT ROSA" and the company "Rutek," which is engaged in the production of Russian equipment.

2024

Testing "VK Video" on the smartphone "R-FON" based on the OS "Rosa Mobile"

The manufacturer of domestic operating systems and infrastructure software IT ROSA on August 13, 2024 about testing the VK video hosting application Video on the R-FON smartphone based on OSROSA Mobile. Read more here.

Support for Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC

STC IT ROSA and Aktiv companies on June 25, 2024 announced the implementation of support for USB tokens and smart cards Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC in the R-FON smartphone running on the domestic operating system ROSA Mobile. The joint solution provides users with additional capabilities for secure two-factor authentication and simplifies access to data.

Now R-FON users can use USB tokens and Rutoken EDS 3.0 smart cards with an NFC chip to store authentication information and conduct two-factor authentication. At the same time, one of the factors is the possession of a physical device, and the other is knowledge of the PIN code from the device. This greatly increases the protection of access to accounts and other user secrets.

Also, Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC devices can be used to protect access to banking or medical applications, authentication in corporate systems such as mail and CRM, protection of personal data and files by encrypting and decrypting important documents on your smartphone. To access information systems, applications and encrypted files, you will need to attach a USB token or smart card with NFC and enter a PIN code.

To use the system, you need to bring Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC to the top of the R-FON back cover. The system reads the data and the user logs into the system.

We are pleased to provide our customers with the opportunity to use Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC devices in their daily lives, providing reliable data protection and simplifying the authentication process, said CEO of ROSA Oleg Karpitsky.

{{quote 'author = noted Rutek CEO Artush Baghdasaryan. | We are proud that R-FON began to support the use of the Rutoken EDS 3.0 NFC device. This demonstrates the high quality of our products and their compliance with modern safety requirements,}}

A few years ago, we headed for compatibility of the Rutoken EDS 3.0 line with all mobile devices on any operating systems. Confirmation of compatibility with ROSA Mobile in R-FON smartphones is the most important step for us, which became possible thanks to the well-coordinated work and professionalism of our partners, added Vladimir Ivanov, Development Director of Aktiv.

P7-Office Support

The mobile Russian office environment "P7-Office" has become a partner native application that is uploaded to the ROSA Market application store. Now R-FON, running on ROSA Mobile OS, has become a full-fledged mobile office that can be used to solve a large range of work and private tasks.

About this JSC "R7" and JSC "STC IT ROSA" agreed on June 6, 2024. More here.

2023

Presented smartphone "R-Fon" based on the Russian mobile OS "ROSA Mobile." Price, photo

On December 18, the STC IT ROSA and Rutek companies officially presented the Russian mobile OS ROSA Mobile and the R-Fon smartphone, which will be assembled at the company's plant in Saransk (Mordovia) from foreign components. The device will be available to large customers in 2024, and, according to Dmitry Ivannikov, CEO of Rutek, will be released to the consumer market when enough applications appear for it.

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The ROSA Mobile mobile operating system, which is developed on the basis of the ROSA Chrome desktop OS and installed on R-Fon, contains a set of its own services: "Rosa ID" is a single identification service, "Rosa Disk" is a data store of 10 GB or more, "Rosa Notifications" is a push notification service, "Rosa Messenger" is its own corporate messenger with the ability to install into the customer's infrastructure, "Rosa Control" is a tool for managing mobile devices (MDM).

Now they are supported only by mobile devices, but will soon be transferred to desktop versions of the ROSA Chrome operating system and other operating systems, which will create its own ecosystem of services that will exchange information with each other.

Developers expect to release operating system updates every 2 years, and once a quarter to publish updates with new features and bug fixes. In particular, at the beginning of next year, full support for Android applications in ROSA Mobile, audio and video calls in Rosa Messenger, support for NFC drivers, services for monetizing applications and a tool for migrating data from Android and iOS are planned.

In the second half of the year, it is planned to develop a set of widgets and tools for personalizing the phone, as well as form a single information space and release Rosa Browser.

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To stimulate application development, STC IT ROSA plans to offer software developers a set of UI Kit visual development tools in 2024, which will contain all the necessary components for creating applications for ROSA Mobile. Application development is assumed in the C++ and Python languages ​ ​ in the Qt graphics environment using Qt Creator - a free IDE for development in C, C++, JavaScript and QML.

Tools for building and testing applications will also be released. Although test versions of the devices have already been transferred to application developers, a software emulator will soon be offered to debug the code without installing it on the device. Applications for the new device can be migrated from the desktop version of ROSA Chrome, adapting the interface for a small screen and touch control.

Now the operating system "ROSA Mobile" can only work on the device "R-Fon," which was developed by the company "Rutek." It is based on the eight-core Mediatek helio G99 processor (declared design norm of 6 nm) and has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of built-in memory. To display information, an AMOLED display with a diagonal of 6.7 inches and a FullHD + resolution is used. The screen is protected from damage by Gorilla Glass 5, and a case is provided in the delivery kit to prevent damage to the case.

The phone has two cameras built in: the main one - 50 megapixels with a fast aperture F/1.8 and selfies - 16 megapixels with a F/2.5 aperture. The device has connectors for two SIM-cards, as well as components/ GPS, and GLONASS Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5.2. The power connector of the Type-C device, and the package provides fast charging with 18W power. The battery capacity is 5 thousand mAh. There is no phone in the first versions, but over time it is planned to add support NFC and a fingerprint sensor.

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TAdviser

Drivers for Russian equipment are already being developed for the new phone. So the company "Aktiv" is already developing drivers for its devices "Rutoken," which will allow you to keep secrets for signing documents with a qualified electronic signature.

At this stage of cooperation, Rutoken EDS 3.0 devices with a USB Type-C interface are being tested as two-factor authentication tools to the ROSA Mobile operating system of the R-Fon smartphone, Vladimir Ivanov, Development Director of Aktiv, told TAdviser.

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The cost, according to the developers, will not exceed 40 thousand rubles, but at first the device will be supplied as part of projects for large customers, where a significant part will be integration into the customer's existing infrastructure and projects for developing the necessary set of applications. Pre-orders for the device started on December 18 on the company's website, but it will be available only next year.

At the moment, the choice of applications is very limited, but it is already clear for what R-Fon can use - for electronic communications in public and private companies, where an increased level of protection is required, since, according to the developers, all device drivers have been checked and do not contain bookmarks, and the software is planned to be certified in FSTEC.

The ongoing development to integrate R-Fon with hardware secret carriers for electronic signature will make the device attractive for companies and departments that process important and classified information. Therefore, at the first stage, the device will most likely be introduced in corporate or state document management as a mobile workplace for an official or senior management.

Start-up of repetitive production

In Russia, the production of the R-FON anti-spyware smartphone has been launched. This was announced on September 22, 2023 to TAdviser by representatives of STC IT ROSA.

As they clarified, the surface installation of R-FON boards, its factory firmware with the ROSA Mobile operating system and the full release of the smartphone started on September 11, 2023 at the facilities of Rutek JSC in Saransk. In order to ensure high protection of user data from spy attacks, engineers of STC IT ROSA, the developer of the mobile OS, themselves write drivers for all hardware components of the smartphone. In general, as Rutek emphasized, serial production of R-FON is fully produced and controlled by Russian specialists. Thanks to this, users can be sure that no information from the device can "leak" without the user's knowledge, be it photos, documents, telephone conversation or location data.

"In the summer of 2023, the preparation of surface installation equipment, test equipment and a conveyor line adapted to the assembly of a telephone began, and in September the production of the first printed circuit boards at the Rutek production facilities in Saransk began. Developing your own drivers for all hardware modules "from scratch" guarantees the smartphone a high level of confidentiality and excludes the presence of bookmarks that can potentially be located both in the original drivers of the component manufacturer and in the code from AOSP (Android Open Source Project), "Rootek said.

As you know, Apple engineers themselves develop hardware modules for their needs and write drivers for them. Other vendors release smartphones on Android OS. Therefore, it is absolutely logical for manufacturers of hardware components to write drivers for this platform, representatives of STC IT ROSA and Rutek explained. However, this causes a serious problem in the security of the device. Almost all drivers come in the form of closed program code - the so-called "blob." Blobs serve interaction with modules responsible for the main hardware functionality of the mobile device (camera, microphone, GNSS, Bluetooth, Fingerprint, Wi-Fi module, NFC, modem, etc.). At the same time, module manufacturers do not open the code and refuse to share documentation about the operation of drivers.

According to the CEO of STC IT ROSA, Oleg Karpitsky software bookmarks can be protected in blobs, in connection with which there is a possibility of unauthorized access of attackers through a camera or microphone, scanning the user's location, attacks on the device through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and modem wireless interfaces, as well as theft of both and biometric data all information available to this module during its operation.

"Our engineers write drivers on their own, and thus you can be sure that no one will spy or eavesdrop on the user of our smartphone. This kind of work is not just programming. This is a full-fledged R&D, analogues of which did not exist in Russia, - continued Oleg Karpitsky. - The experience gained in the process of these works is one of the key values ​ ​ of our operating system. However, all efforts made allow us to be sure that R-FON is a smartphone with enhanced protection against cyber espionage. "

Product Announcement

On August 17, 2023, the head of the Association of Professional Users of Social Networks and Messengers, Vladimir Zykov, published photos of the first smartphone on the Russian operating system Rosa Mobile. The device was called "R-FON." Zykov cited the technical characteristics of the novelty:

• display diagonal - 6.7 inches;
• RAM - 8 GB;
• built-in memory - 128 GB;
• main chamber - 50 MP;
• storage battery capacity - 5000 mAh;
• two SIM card slots;
• fingerprint sensor;
• WiFi;
• NFC;
• Bluetooth.

R-FON

The phone will be delivered in a black package, which, in addition to the gadget itself, provides a manual, a transparent silicone case, a standard headset with headphones and a microphone, a USB-C wire and an 18W charging adapter.

The smartphone itself, on the screen of which a matte protective film is glued, has a black body with contrasting silver engraving with the manufacturer's emblem and the name of the model on the back. There is also a main camera unit with three sensors and LED flash. On the right side there are volume buttons, as well as a button to turn on and off the gadget with an integrated fingerprint scanner. A standard 3.5mm headphone jack is provided at the bottom.

R-FON

All OS capabilities and interface are kept secret until the announcement! ROSA Mobile is scheduled to enter the consumer market in 2024. For the corporate sector and state customers, the operating system will be released in 2023, - said Vladimir Zykov.

R-FON runs on the new Russian operating system Rosa Mobile, based on its own Linux distribution, which "is capable of working on a wide range of smartphones and tablets." According to the developers, the architecture differs from other similar solutions in a high level of security due to the refusal to use closed components from the Android OS, and also has a set of all the necessary basic system applications.^[1]

Notes