N. Korea steps up efforts to develop smartphone applications

North Korea is stepping up efforts to develop smartphone applications, a move that underscores its commitment not to be left behind in the fast moving world of information technology.

Prof Choe Hyok Chol, a North Korean professor, said research projects are under way to introduce Android smartphones, according to a video clip posted on YouTube.

He explained a bar code application on Android smartphones has improved the time it takes to recognise information contained in bar codes. The video appears to have been recorded on Oct 27 when the North held an exhibition on programs.

The move comes as more than 1 million North Koreans are subscribed to mobile phone services provided by Egypt's Orascom Telecom, according to a news report, in a sign of growing mobile penetration in the reclusive country. The Android operating system is the most widely used smartphone software around the world with hundreds of manufacturers building handsets based on the free and open platform.