The Super Shuffle, huh?
By Peter Rojas 
posted Mar 10th 2005 12:54PM
posted Mar 10th 2005 12:54PM
You hear that? It's the sound of Stevie J. letting loose a thousand lawyers on the people at Luxpro who think that
they're somehow not going to get the crap sued out of them over the "Super Shuffle," a flash-based MP3 player that
looks so very, very familiar to us. Supposedly the Super Shuffle MX-575D/1075D has the same weight as the
iPod shuffle, but is slightly larger (8.4 x 2.5 x 0.84mm
for the shuffle vs. 8.5 x 2.5 x 0.97 for the Super Shuffle) and comes with a built-in FM tuner, comes in 512MB and 1GB
flavors, and offers support for playback of MP3, WMA, and WAV files.
[Thanks, Bene]
An FM Tuner without a display? That sounds like loads of fun.
Wouldn't it have been easier/cheaper from them to simply go play in traffic?
If apple would come out with products that where more than just designed cool people would have a harded time ripping them off. All the ripoffs seem to have more features and cost less.
I heard they were going to make an Iphoto knock off as well... sans the screen. It's far less expensive than Apples Iphoto so that's a bonus.
There was a recent article about how mainland Chinese companies are getting very aggressive about filing for Chinese patents for foreign goods, and when sued, countersue and tie the original manufacturer up in court.
There's no way they would do this without planning a similar strategy.
i don't see it. this looks nothing like the ipod shuffle. apple has no case.
well, it looks good enough, but how much does it cost, and is it a USB drive as well?
Could it be a Gag or are they that Nuts??
Does anybody else think that the iPod shuffle looks like a remote for one of those adjustable mattress beds?
This is OBVIOUSLY a bogus lead/story, no company in the world would so blatantly rip off the design of a competitor's product. There are so-called knock-offs, and then there is just plain stealing another company's patented/trademarked product design, which this would be if the pictures are accurate. I question the pix also, the one with the red background is identical to the one on Apple's site with a green background.
http:/randomtruth.blogspot.com/
Even the advertising for this thing is a complete rip-off of Apple's Shuffle ads. The whole thing is so pathetic ... it certainly doesn't dispell the image of Asians as being "rip off" artists who cannot innovate on either the creative or technological front.
what no cape......not very super to me.
To Brett:
No hoax. Feast your eyes on this:
http://www.luxpro-corp.com/e_575d.htm
Methinks somebody in one of the iPod Shuffle assembly plants in Taiwan has been tellin' tales out of school. That's the only way they could have come out with a product like this that fast. There was a similar instance regarding model trains recently - somebody contracted with a Chinese/Taiwanese design house for an exclusive line of model trains, and somebody in the company stole the plans and started their own business selling competing trains at cheaper prices. And if you think that's bad, take a look at this:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-12/18/content_401235.htm
looks legit enough - check out their site:
http://www.luxpro-corp.com/e_575d.htm
The design is awful. Apple is waaaay more innovative.
China is known for having US businesses open up and then throw them out using their product as their own. It is hard to sue a communist backed country. No copyright laws or none that they adhere to.
Wow. Even the earphones they show on the website are identical to the Apple ones.
"there is just plain stealing another company's patented/trademarked product design"
i don't think you can patent a design. i work for an apparel company and our product gets ripped off year after year. we can't sue or patent out designs though, only the technology used in said designs.
then again, i could be wrong.
Awww... welp, it doesn't support iTunes... I mean thats the reason you Apple iDrones continue to buy the stuff right?
But they do have their own download/music management software... I believe they call it eyeTunes.
What about the Curly Shuffle, or the Super BOWL Shuffle?
The feature list on their website could also have legal problems:
"Shuffle + FM Radio + Voice Recorder"
By stating shuffle, and not MP3 Player, they open them selves up for even more copying battles.
Seriously, I can only guess that there is some guy out there who's house is filled with nothing but knock-off products, rather then the real thing.
Bob-"Do you have a Apple Shuffle?"
Joe-"Ya, I have a Super Shuffle?"
Bob-"Does that work with iTunes?"
Joe-"Ya, it works with eyeTunes?"
"Awww... welp, it doesn't support iTunes... I mean thats the reason you Apple iDrones continue to buy the stuff right?"
You got it. And the reason you don't is... what? You don't like good products? Then you should be way excited over this announcement (there's always *somebody* who's excited about pretty much every lame mp3 player announcement that shows up around here - looking back yesterday, there were even a few people going nuts about the Virgin Electronics players when they were first announced!).
That's the unfortunate byproduct of manufacturing in China - no respect for intellectual property. I bet this thing has a lot of the same exact componets as Apple's.
Sleazy though they might be, these clone/gray/black market companies are not dumb.
Even if they are sued they have probably already figured they can make enough fast money to make the whole ordeal profitable...maybe they even can...
Kinda like parking in San Francisco used to be. It cost $5 bucks an hour for paid parking spaces in the buisness district which meant at least $40 bucks to park a day. But a parking ticket for an expired meter was capped at something like $18 per day. It was cheaper to pay a penalty rather than a price.
"If crime didn't pay...there'd be a lot less criminals..."
This is so hilarious. I would buy it though. and for the record, there are MANY cheapo FM tuners out there without displays! :) They come in cracker jack boxes!
That's the unfortunate byproduct of manufacturing in China - no respect for intellectual property. I bet this thing has a lot of the same exact componets as Apple's.
That's the unfortunate byproduct of manufacturing in China - no respect for intellectual property. I bet this thing has a lot of the same exact componets as Apple's.
Seriously, though, I want to buy one right now. Toss it in a drawer and wait for them to get sued out of business. It will be a nice computing museum tchotchke in a few years.
Heh. Apple has little to fear from the real competition of iRiver, Dell, Creative and Sonic Blue, whose inexpensive workalikes and workBEYONDS have an absurdly slim marketshare.. What makes you think they're going to worry about a cheap Chinese knockoff that will never even SELL on this shore? This would be like Rolex litigating against the Brooklyn knock-off artists...there's no profit in it, and no real loss from it, so don't waste your time pursuing it.
That said, if that little wireless transmitter gadget is Shuffle compatible, I'm buying one. And what's up with that tube driven speaker dock mockup on their site? If they actually build that, I'll buy one. That's something APPLE should clone.
Actually, if I could get the 1gb version for $50, I'd snap it up, and who cares if it's a ripoff?
And actually, some of their other products seem pretty good. I'm looking for purchase info for the Share Connector: http://www.luxpro-corp.com/e_sc01.htm
About iTunes...
I'm quite baffled that nobody in the hacker-programmer community (as far I have been able to find) has bothered to hack iTunes so that it will recognize any USB-connected device under the "Source" column. Why hasn't anybody done this? Is there something extraordinarily difficult about hacking this into the iTunes program, or is this simply a matter that nobody has actually thought of doing this?
Second, how come nobody makes an MP3 player that supports the unprotected AAC format as well? Again, is there something technically difficult about doing this?
I reall ylike the build quality, check out those seems
Where can I get one?
Love the text from their "about" page:
LUXPRO CORPORATION is recognized by a technological group. They work in researching, designing, and innovation products for over 30 years. LUXPRO always insists to provide you comfortable customer services and high quality products to match your requirements.
We will keep going to be a designing leader. Our products are always so useful to meet what you need. Our mission is to improve your living quality and to create your life value. If you can imagine it, LUXPRO CORPORATION can make it.
No matter how old you are, what you do, or where you live, chances are a LUXPRO CORPORATION product touches your life.
No wonder I didn't see the Shuffle at the Apple Store... it's tiny! ;-)
Seriously, if this was real, why not supply a display when the chipset can handle it. And as someone else pointed out, an FM tuner w/o a display or anything to tell you the position is pretty tough to use.
Noticing that the company uses 'shuffle" as a feature instead of "Mp3 Player," maybe the whole shuffle aspect was lost in translation. Maybe the company thought that Shuffle meant Mp3 Player. You never know, considering the horrible English in translated assembly manuals.
#25 and #26 ironic ain't it :) typing it twice :)
#37 hey philip they are not using the name 'shuffle' as a verb or function they are using it as a noun :)
thats why their ad says shuffle + fm radio + voice recorder = super shuffle
Love it... and I'm sure that it is a stunt. If it has drawn attention to the website, the ploy has worked. Some of their other products are pretty cool, like the "Share Connector" and their "Wireless Transmitter". If you go to their Chinese language website though, the product which takes the cake is "Palubo - Baby's First Friend". Er... scary! The link goes to a picture basically saying to wait for further announcements. And I note that they are at CeBIT, Hall 21 Booth 24-1. Can anyone verify any of their products?
They even rip off their advertisments. That PABULO mascot thing is a pretty obvious Pokemon derivative...
#17
Of course you can patent a design. Its called a Design Patent. Look it up. I have one in my name from a previous job.
i think ZSX hit the nail on the head! Think of it this way - instead of all the money for print/tv/whatever advertising (and you can pay through the nose for that), they put that money in a fund to settle the inevitable lawsuit, and in turn get free advertising on all the mac fanboy sites and um well... engadget. The advertising only gets better when apple actually sues them - that will possibly reach news sites like the new york times etc. I think it's genius marketing - probably not all that ethical - but genius marketing nonetheless.
Could it be that they pissed off an OEM manufacturer or something to that effect? That is like a turbo-ripoff.
G.
I'm China. I do what I want!
Check out this Macnews.de page. These guys had a booth up at CEBiT advertizing the thing! Oy!
http://www.macnews.de/gallery/displayimage.php?album=21&pos=4
this is got to be the cheapest rip of they made from mac.
i don't know why people are calling this an Apple ripoff. surely, Apple wouldn't be so stupid as to release a flash based mp3 player that doesn't allow you any flexibility to choose the songs you listen to!
--adam
I want to see what they look like after Stevie J. has sued the hell out of them haha
God Bless Ameri- err China!
Chimerica!!... ?
with liberty and just ice (for tea) for all!!
GO TEAM!!