Police's costly iPhone bid angers netizens

SHANGHAI - The Suzhou police's traffic and patrol department responded to public criticism of its recent bid for 21 iPhone 4s by saying the smart phone model is the only mobile device that meets its video monitoring system's requirements.

The department's deputy political commissar Tao Ren told a news conference on Friday that the 32GB iPhone 4s will be used to create a digitized transportation monitoring system, enabling police to remotely observe scenes before they arrive. He did not reveal when the monitoring system would become operational.

The iPhone 4 is the only device the department could find that is compatible with the high-definition video transfer system with which their patrol cars will be equipped, Tao said, adding the iPhone 4 has a longer recording duration than other mobile devices.