Samjiyon, a North Korean Tablet better than iPad Air

Though Apple iPad Air might be the current craze among tablet consumers, a tablet from North Korea can be better than iPad Air in many ways.

Last year, the state-run Korea Computer Centre (KCC) released the Samjiyon tablet which is popular among Koreans and also shows Korea’s growing IT industry.

North Korea tech reported that Samjiyon runs on a tweaked version of Google’s Android OS with the electric components sourced from China’s Shenzen-based Yecon Industry Company and assembled in North Korea. The pre-loaded Ad-free content is one of the main features of the tablet making it better than the iPad Air as apps have to be purchased from the Apple App store.

About 141 e-books on North Korean topics and 448 pre-installed dictionaries are included in the tablet. North Korean version of Angry Birds Rio is also pre-loaded.

The Samjiyon has remained as a niche product in North Korea and abroad.  However International tourists aren’t much into North Korean technological products,said a representative of Koryo tours, a Beijing based travel agency.

“We have heard of the tablets and we have taken some tour groups to small electronic manufacturing plants,” the representative said.

“The Samjiyon is a good novelty item for people interested in North Korea,” said Kasey Choi, a Korean journalist based in Hong Kong. “But i do like how they put Angry Birds Rio in there”

[Via]