Meizu M8 miniOne Redesign: Barely Different

Meizu M8 Redesign

No, what you see above are not two accidentally repeated images of the same phone. Actually, Meizu revealed some new renderings of the miniOne iPhone clone (formerly the Meizu M8) that look hardly different from the old ones.

Maybe Meizu is trying to get past Apple lawyers, who will have to strain their eyes to see the difference between the old and the new Meizu miniOne.

Do you share my sentiment that this barely qualifies as a non-iPhone-knockoff? Because the people over at the Meizu Me forums seem delusional to me.

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Hua Long IP2000: Another iPhone Clone

IP200 iPhone Clone

As you would expect in Asia, the mobile phone market is flooded with iPhone clones by now. The Meizu miniOne (formerly known as the Meizu M8) was the first nearly-identical iPhone lookalike we saw.

The latest contender is the IP2000, whose top half is nearly indistinguishable from that of the Apple iPhone, if not for its frontal camera lens.

Unlike the iPhone, the IP2000 sports an added number pad, because the touchscreen functionality on the display is optional. An “OK” button replaces the iPhone’s Home button, and four menu buttons have also been added.

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Zune Phone Patent Application Reveals Shoddy Interface

Zune Phone Patent

This post needn’t be lengthy because the concept image of the interface on Microsoft’s possibly upcoming Zune phone speaks for itself.

The image is from a patent filed by Microsoft last June, so I’m not suggesting that Microsoft borrowed the icons-on-a- touchscreen concept from Apple.

Wired thinks it’s simply a matter of “some ideas seem to have their time and pop up in different places simultaneously, just like the TV which popped up independently on both sides of the Atlantic at the same time.”

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Will the iPhone Take Down BlackBerry?

Jeff Matthews surveyed his readers (customers of Verizon, Cingular, T-Mobile, Sprint and Alltell – in that order) to find out whether the iPhone is truly a threat to the BlackBerry.

Among the 8 questions he asked:

  • Which iPhone feature do you like the best? Which feature bothers you most?
  • Would you switch your email to the iPhone and get rid of your current device?
  • Do you need a new iPod? Would you replace it with an iPhone?

It’s an interesting post. Check it out if you have some time.

Intel to Produce Chips for iPhone Competitors

Apple & Intel

It looked like Intel and Apple were becoming pals, with Intel offering Apple its Core Duo processors for the Mac and even praising the iPhone.

But now Intel said it will be producing cell phone chips that will be marketed to phone manufacturers other than Apple.

On the one hand it looks like Apple’s been stabbed in the back. On the other it seems we consumers are going to have a lot more options in the market next to the iPhone, followed by a better iPhone v2.0 (competition- always a good thing).

Video: Microsoft CEO Laughs at Apple iPhone

Check out this video where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer laughs at Apple’s iPhone, “the most expensive phone in the world,” because, he says, “it doesn’t appeal to business customers because it doesn’t have a keyboard, which makes it not a very good email machine.”

He’s right, the lack of tactile response could be a killer for iPhone. What do you think?