The Soviets get a Smartphone Maker (RAR!)

[Zor]

In this scenario on June 1st, 1954 the USSR's government receives a device from some aliens an automated fabricator that's cubical 25 to a side which can produce from Raw Materials Smartphones and the equipment for cell towers at a rate of 5,000 Smartphones (in boxes with wall chargers and double headed data exchange cables) and 5 tower equipment packs a Day along with the instructions for landlines to link them on each cell phone. The aliens also gave them a set of books explaining the mechanics of the smartphones and the basics of their digital programming and software language. Said Smartphones have similar general processing powers and memory to modern cellphones, touch screens, two ports (One for for audio jacks and another for data exchange), a camera, a set of basic apps include one for programming new programs and a fingerprint ID system. They are more durable than modern cellphones, have 36 hour batteries and built in solar panels on their back to top that off with.

What is the consequences of this development?

Zor

[U.P. Cinnabar]

Depends on how long it takes Soviet scientists and engineers to reverse engineer their alien technological Sampo.

[Sky Captain]

Missile technology gets huge upgrade. IIRC during early days of Space Race lack of suitable flight computer was major hindrance. Like when N1 rocket kept blowing up because correctly managing 30 engines was beyond the capabilities of computers of that era. US freaks out when intel reveals Soviets have supply of highly advanced electronics seemingly out of nowhere.

[LaCroix]

the rocessing power of each of the phones is about 1-5000x faster of contemporary computers. The Sowjets will use it to outscience and engineer pretty much everyone within a few years.

Reverse engineering won't happen too quickly - they already know how to create chips, they need to refine the techniques for quite a while to get to the miniaturization needed for the phones...

[Simon_Jester]

Missile technology gets huge upgrade. IIRC during early days of Space Race lack of suitable flight computer was major hindrance. Like when N1 rocket kept blowing up because correctly managing 30 engines was beyond the capabilities of computers of that era.

Caveat: Smartphones may not meet the vibration-resistance, temperature serviceability, and vacuum tolerance requirements for spaceflight.

In real life, computers for space applications actually tend to lag computers for groundside installations, all else being equal, because computers in space have a more unfavorable environment.

The hardest part for the Russians is going to be building interfacing devices. Trying to program a smartphone ON a smartphone is a nightmare; they need something that connects CRT screens and keyboards to the smartphone itself. For that matter, just building something to multiplex all the data into the phone's single access port is a problem.

[Elheru Aran]

Zor does specify that the smartphones have data cables and input jacks, so now the Soviets just have to figure out the exotic technology called 'USB'.

Honestly if they're 'more durable' than modern cellphones I might figure they're okay if sealed into a purpose built box of some sort?

For everything else beyond space travel... the Soviets don't even have to worry about miniaturizing their knockoffs as, for example, a tank firing-solution computer is probably at least twice the size of a smartphone. Or they could just download an app package for World of Tanks with auto-aim...