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Thursday September 25, 2008
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Scrolling right down the Gearlog homepage today, I found a large ad for a hideous rabbit hole of iPhone clones. The site www.actfind.com showcases the worst of China's iPhone ripoffs, including devices which appear to be sold by using pictures of actual Apple iPhones (but are not iPhones), such as the one at left. Amusingly, that seems to be a photo of a jailbroken iPhone. (If you're looking for the ad, you may have to reload a bunch of times; it's really all up to the whims of Google's ad server.)
Here are some winners from the site. The "Shake to Control GSM Quad-band IP001" features "Especial function: Shake to elect song, ditheringge elect motif picture." Oh does it now?
From a company I've actually heard of, the CECT P168S appears to be a more normal touch-screen phone with a cheap imitation of the iPhone interface pasted onto it. It has "flow screen (sometimes called multi-touch)," which I'm sure Apple's lawyers would just love to know about.
Then there's the PDA M88+, which has a very, shall we say, iPhoney look. This one is supposedly running Windows Mobile 6, but you'd never know it, because the presumably bogus screen shot they have up has a very iPhone look to it. (Okay, maybe you would know it - zoom the screen shot and you'll see a little Windows icon in the corner.)
This site makes me sad. It's not just that their page of iPod Nano ripoffs calls itself a "Wise Scare-Buying Activity," whatever that means. It's that sites like these, and manufacturers like these, help spread the image of China's electronics industry as generating a vast quantity of low quality rip-off crap, as opposed to, say, the innovation and excellence of a Lenovo.
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September 26, 2008 3:44 PM
Funny thing is, some of these phones "compromise" by replacing features that I don't want / wouldn't pay for with features that I have actively been seeking that are free. Case in point? The PDA M88+. Does the iPhone have WiFi? The PDA M88 does - and I'd think most people who don't NEED an internet connection would appreciate being able to have one at hotspots. Like me. I wouldn't buy an iphone... the only thing that would keep me from buying that clone though, would be questionable quality concerns.
September 26, 2008 4:05 PM
The previous comment was pretty weird. Yes, the iPhone 3G has WiFi. So let's just ignore the rest of that rant.
September 26, 2008 4:13 PM
Hell the 1st gen iPhone has Wifi...so that first comment is SO uninformed. Wow, just wow.
September 26, 2008 4:41 PM
The most amusing thing about the one my daughter-in-law has is that is has a pear on the screen instead of an apple. But it does work just fine, even here in the states. The only problem is that some hacking is involved when changing over to a US provider.
b
September 30, 2008 12:41 PM
I ended up buying a clone, which overall I am pretty happy with, but would have happily bought an iPhone if it wasn't for being forced to be with a carrier that wasn't of my choosing. That's what the difference is for me. Its not sad that they are being made, its good that they gave me a way to get the features I wanted without having to sacrifice my service.
October 8, 2008 8:25 AM
(CORRECTION TO LINK)
I wouldn't mess actfind.com, I found better deals at www.FactoryMobilePhones.com
June 25, 2009 2:12 AM
There are much better WIFI chinese phones available, for instance HTC - the quality is just amazing as well as the design.