You're reading: Best ‘Made in Ukraine’ digital devices

Ukraine-produced electronics are no longer on the inventive edge as was the case in 1951, when Ukrainian academician Serhiy Lebedev unveiled the first mainframe computer to Continental Europe.

Each year an average of 16,000 IT specialists graduate from Ukraine’s universities. In 2011 Ukraine ranked fourth in a global ranking of countries that had top notch IT specialists behind the U.S., India and Russia, according to an IT Outsourcing Industry report released in 2012 by Ukrainian Hi-Tech Initiative, an association of Ukrainian software development and IT outsourcing companies.

Yet the electronic devices that Ukraine produces are rare on the market and can hardly compete with technological giants like Apple, Samsung, HP, IBM and others.

However, there are some gadgets which might please both fans and critics of the Made in Ukraine label.  The Kyiv Post brings you a quick guide.

E-book

In 2008, when Amazon Kindle still looked like a flat gray slab, the Ukrainian company PocketBook began selling its own e-reader for Hr 2,720.

Currently, PocketBook churns out devices based on electronic ink, a technology that allows old-fashioned pigments to merge with e-readers, which have high quality screens and an affordable price tag of Hr 675 to 1,720, depending on the model.

The gadget has seen reasonably strong sales in the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2012, the company released 1.5 million electronic readers all over the world. About 71.5 percent of PocketBook e-readers were sold in Russia and about in 13.3 percent were sold in Ukraine, according to a report by the-ebook.org.

One of this e-book’s advantages is its uncanny ability to customize the formatting; another is its ability to process most popular electronic book formats.

PocketBook International was created by Ukrainians Oleg Naumenko and Igor Popov, the latter of whom was the initial investor. In 2012 Russian businessman Andrey Konovalov bought the company for an undisclosed sum. Nevertheless, the software for e-readers is still developed in Kyiv.

The popular PocketBook 360 Plus model now goes for Hr 675. For this price customer gets a 5” E-Ink Vizplex display, RSS and Internet access. Also the company launched Obreey Store, where readers can purchase books as an alternative to downloading pirate copies. Prices range from Hr 8 to Hr 45 for modern Ukrainian literature.

Laptop

The Kyiv-based Navigator company started in 1997 by assembling desktop computers, and eventually ventured into the competitive world of laptop production. They sell their laptops under the Impression brand.

The company’s production facilities are located in Gostomel village in Kyiv Oblast. In 2012 the company’s profit reached Hr 475 million.

Prices for their laptops (with an average weight of 1.7 kilograms) start at Hr 3,200. The most expensive model goes for Hr 5,555 and has a 14” HD display as well as four gigabyte RAM memory.  By comparison, Navigator’s rival, HP sells laptops for Hr 2,820 to Hr 10,267, depending on the model.

Tablets

Tablet computers remain among the most wanted IT-products in Ukraine. In the first half of 2013 Ukrainians spent Hr 982.6 million on tablets, according to GfK-Ukraine, a market research company.

The first Ukrainian tablet ImPAD, produced by Navigator, hit the local market in 2011, the year after iPad was released.

The ImPAD, a simple-looking device with a design clearly inspired by the iPad, has gained its share of popularity.

“During 2012 about 15,800 ImPAD models were sold in Ukraine,” Oleksand Kostiyk, head of Navigator’s computer system department said. “That is 7 percent share of the electronics market. We have about 20 models of tablets for different budgets. And now we are going to focus specifically on producing tablets and ultra-book laptops.”

The most popular model, ImPAD 4213 is easy to handle as it weighs 307 grams. It operates on Android 4.1.1 and has 512 MB DDR3 of storage space. For those who can’t afford an expensive tablet, this model offers the best value for your money.

Another tablet Senkatel ZnayPad, designed for high school students, appeared on the market on July 16, but carries a less modest price tag of Hr 1,999.

Created by Electronic Educational Systems (EES), it claims to be the brand new tablet computer focused on the educational needs of high school students. The tablet features numerous school applications, as well as an e-books library, as well as access to a school timetable and dictionaries. The creators believe students will also use the tablet to access Wikipedia, video lectures and online maps and manuals. The tablet is going to be tested at several Kyiv schools through the end of 2013.

However, company representatives hope to have a better picture of the gadget’s prospects by the end of summer.

“ZnayPad has been on the market for a few weeks, but we already have some calls from Kyiv and regional schools,” Oleg Davydov, a product manager at Electronic Education Systems, told the Kyiv Post. “In the middle of August the interest will rise, but now school administrations have to decide how to purchase the tablets for students.”

Watch phones

As rumors swirl of Apple developing a watch, a Kyiv-based company, AirOn, took a crack at creating its first smart watch phone in 2011.

The creators offer a range of five watch phone models, but say AirOn Element Black is the most popular. Their watch has everything one needs to place a call, send text messages using a stylus and snap pictures. But don’t hold your breath for high quality photos with its 1.3-megapixel camera. The watch also plays music and videos.

While the gadget’s strong feature is its size, it is still bigger than an average wrist watch. It also has an unimpressive RAM of 64 MB, which is enough for only basic functions, such as phone calls, photo and video shooting. The phone has 3G and GPRS, while the design is not very juicy. It also features MicroSD plug-in and weighs some 110 grams. It goes for Hr 1,442.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected]