China struggles to extrude long-anticipated iKnockoff
Ah, Meizu M8. The original iClone, already so late to the party that other imitators have already beat it to the punch. Spotted by Electronista, the official Meizu website says it—or perhaps just more photos of it—shall arrive next month. Here's a machtrans of Meizu supremo J. Wong:
August will be released m8 photos and other information, and the issue of online version. (256MB内存,8GB 2180元/台). Gentie not apply to the online version (128 MB of memory) friends, we will in October as much as possible to provide priority in the test version (256 MB of memory, 8 GB 2180 yuan / Taiwan).
Described by Engadget's Chris Ziegler as one of the most entertaining sagas in the phone biz — though I'm not sure it has an awful lot of competition — this device is a shameless dupe that makes Samsung's Instinct seem the zenith of originality. Electronista again:
Several photos of a working M8 have also appeared and show the device with an interface that has apparently regressed since earlier changes with a look that more closely resembles the iPhone the M8 has been accused of replicating since it was announced by Meizu in early 2007
Machine Trans [Meizu]
Meizu 's iPhone rival shown, due in August? [Electronista via Engadget]
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...the sincerest form of flattery?
Something like that!
It's taken them long enough to get the specs approximately matching the iPhone. However, it will still be running Windows Mobile somewhere under its nice UI, so is still a buggy bowl of bats' droppings. I'll think about it when they can get Android running on it.
In October they'll "provide much priority for the test version"? That doesn't sound promising.