GLONASS technologyhas exploded in the Russian market with the announcement of the first ever smartphone from the Land of the Czar.
The smartphone- MTS Glonass 945 is readily available online, locked to the local MTS network. The hype around the 945 is due to GLONASS. Spec-wise it’s a decent phone. It runs Froyo aka Android 2.2 with ARMv7 Qualcomm MSM 7230 chip. Other features include 3.2-inch 240 × 400 touchscreen, 2-megapixel camera, expandable to 16 GB memory, GPS, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
Developed by the Soviet Union and now the Russian Federation since 1976, GLONASS is an acronym of a satellite navigation system. It’s slightly less accurate than the GPS, given that GPS is 2 – 8 meters accurate and GLONASS is 4 – 8, but together these systems provide 1 – 3 meter accuracy. The future of GLONASS is improving along with accuracy, as the Russian government will soon pass a law that will bind every device that goes on sale with GPS to support GLONASS as well.
With an update to Gingerbread aka Android 2.3, at a price closer to $400 and perhaps an outadated hardware, the future of MTS 945 seems less bright. However, it sure will go down the pages of history- First GLONASS smartphone.
