iPhone cases (not clones) already in China

No, those aren't iPhone clones... they are however the first of many iPhone accessories to come. Presumably without any help from Apple -- armed only with official specs and photographs taken from every conceivable angle found clogging the Intertubes -- industrious Chinese manufacturers are already churning out iPhone cases. These two were spotted at the Hong Kong Electronics and Components Fair looking for distribution. What better way to protect your cardboard cutout until late June? Hotly anticipated would be an understatement.

[Via Akihabara News]

[Matt B @ Apr 17th 2007 9:25AM]

I swear my son's first words are going to be "Made in China".

[lishnetzy @ Apr 18th 2007 1:30AM]

I was planning on naming my daughter "Maiden China", China for short... It'd be cool to have your name on everything

[chris fredette @ Apr 17th 2007 9:28AM]

nice, now your iphone can be treo sized

[zib_redlektab @ Apr 17th 2007 9:51AM]

That one on the right looks like it's on upside down...

[Leonard Nimrod @ Apr 17th 2007 9:54AM]

I love how some claim the iPhone will fail and that no one will buy it despite all the evidence to the contrary.

[supermeerkat @ Apr 17th 2007 10:02AM]

I love the fact there are pro and anti zealots for Apple, and they both seem to be as stupid and thoughtless of each other. How about some empathy people?

[supermeerkat @ Apr 17th 2007 10:02AM]

And some tolerance. Don't forget tolerance!

[benjamin :? @ Apr 17th 2007 10:05AM]

theyre probably being made in the same factory as the i-phone,, just being sent out the back door instead of the front door,, wont it be funny if the i-phone specs change before release, & they dont fit ,, teehee

[Michael Rada @ Apr 17th 2007 10:24AM]

cases? :-) Here you are the full product official sold in PRC. for details follow this link.

http://sh.vip.alibaba.com/admintool/privateCatalog/statclick.do?domain=90nike&id1=192075&id2=kLrrdlNKZRfePqwlaftUfXgRs1ac9GqtAJst3lRBR64%3D

specification of the products does not looks bad at all, and even the price is not bad.
Detailed Product Description
General Network: GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Dimensions: 115 x 61 x 11.6mm
Weight: 135g
Display Type: touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
- Multi-touch input method
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Ringtones Type: Polyphonic, MP3
Customization: Download
Vibration: Yes
- 3.5mm headset jack
Memory Phonebook Advanced, Photocall
Call records: Yes
Card slot: No
- 4/8GB shared memory
Data GPRS: Yes
HSCSD: No
EDGE: Yes
3G: No
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth: Yes, v2.0
Infrared port: No
USB: Yes, v2.0
OS: Mac OS X v10.4.8
Messaging: SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser: HTML (Safari)
Games: Yes
Colors: Black
Camera: 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video
- Google Maps
- Widgets support
- iPod audio ideo player
- PIM including calendar, to-do list
- Photo browser/editor
- Voice memo
- Integrated handsfree
Battery: standard battery, Li-Ion
Talk time: up to 5h

[supermeerkat @ Apr 17th 2007 10:31AM]

I'll have some of that! I carry around a phone and an iPod - an iPhone will be an excellent replacement that takes up much less space in my pocket.

[LightningCrash @ Apr 17th 2007 8:48PM]

My old Audiovox SMT5600 is a phone and it plays MP3s via the 2GB MiniSD card. Maybe you should get one of those.

[The Big Fudge @ Apr 17th 2007 10:41AM]

...especially since your wallet will be so much thinner.

[supermeerkat @ Apr 18th 2007 10:37AM]

@LightningCrash: I just want an iPhone - it just looks so good. I want one for no-other reason than aesthetics. Does that make me a fanboy? No it doesn't - it just means I want one of them suckers.

[Grant @ Apr 17th 2007 10:49AM]

wow, making accessories based off of a prototype, someones got some balls.
I'm pretty sure the chances of the size changing are better than not, so i hope they didn't produce those in mass quantites Jussst yet.

[McGinley @ Apr 17th 2007 11:02AM]

Contrary to popular belief,the iphone is actually a time machine,as Apple couldnt figure out how to get the time to change to 9:42.

[Rick @ Apr 17th 2007 11:19AM]

Well, I suppose there is a market for these accessories at the moment. [/Sarcasm]

[Jean-Michel Decombe @ Apr 17th 2007 1:07PM]

Rationale for these iPhone cases: to take a beautifully designed and superexpensive phone and turn it into a cheap and kinda ugly (yet still functional) phone.

[ZSX @ Apr 17th 2007 1:39PM]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Silicone-Skin-Pouch-Case-Cover-for-Apple-iPhone-Pink_W0QQitemZ200099703761QQihZ010QQcategoryZ68029QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD2VQQcmdZViewItem

Available on eBay in four different colours! Pink, Red, Orange and Green.

:rolls eyes:

[w00fd06 @ Apr 17th 2007 2:17PM]

How many of you guys are going 2 buy the iPhone?(I am not insluting apple, so don't go and whine at me.)

[topher-j5k @ Apr 18th 2007 2:45AM]

Re: Audiovox SMT5600.. I had one of those too. I even got the model that replaced it-- the Cingular 2125. Yeah, they play mp3s. I have a 2gig card in mine too. But it's such a pain, I rarely use it for that ever since the novelty wore off. The built-in player is a joke, so I bought a different one that's half way descent, but there's still no "syncing"- just copying new songs to the card (after taking the card out to use a USB2 reader since the phone is USB1; oh yeah, and the card is behind the battery-- think about that for a minute)... once the songs are on the phone, I have to rebuild playlists... So that's how Music is on phones right now. Don't get me started on viewing pictures; my calendar; so yeah, I for one will be happy to pay the premium Apple is charging to have a phone that will actually work how I expect it to. Same reason I bought an iPod vs a Zen or Zune or whatever. Same reason I bought a PowerBook vs a Dell or HP or whatever. Apple makes products that work the way I expect them too, and don't break down nearly as often as the alternatives.

[LightningCrash @ Apr 19th 2007 9:13AM]

Well then it may be worthwhile to wait for the OpenMoko phones to hit the shelves. I know I'm looking forward to it, as I'm shooting for a complete Linux pervasion of my computers/electronics.
Right now, I have no problem syncing via Winamp to the SMT5600. I did have to load an app to make the MiniSD card show up as Mass Storage in order to make that happen, though. Plus it's hard picking 2GB worth of MP3s out from a 200GB library.

[Jason Gold @ Apr 17th 2007 8:58PM]

w00f, I actually will. I don't have a phone and I have been holding out for this for a while. Does anyone know where I can get one of those cases not from eBay?

[christiana @ May 4th 2007 2:50PM]

Apple iPhone 4GB pioneering Visual Voicemail, an industry first, lets users look at a listing of their voicemails, decide which messages to listen to, then go directly to those messages without listening to the prior messages. Just like email, iPhones Visual Voicemail enables users to immediately randomly access those messages that interest them most.

[Rod @ Sep 13th 2007 4:30PM]

I try to stay away from products made in China (it aint easy....). I got this one from Waterfield Designs (http://www.sfbags.com) and I love it. They make all their cases in San Francisco. Good folks, too.

http://www.sfbags.com/products/iphonesmartcase/iphonesmartcase.htm

[Sparblaze @ Oct 14th 2007 3:09PM]

The one on the right is on upside down. Smart.

[James @ Nov 7th 2007 5:05AM]

I just bought a Vintage case for my iphone and it really looks great.I think beyza Cases is the first producer for this product.

I really recommend to buy a Vintage case for your iPhone from Beyza Cases (www.beyzacases.com)

[megan2008 @ Aug 29th 2008 3:55AM]

try the latest and novelty iphone cases at
http://www.shopping-toys.com/iphone-cases-c-13.html

[Tony @ Oct 12th 2008 10:08PM]

You can get a cases that aren't from China if you look around. How about one hand made from New Zealand using totally genuine leather for $39.95 including worldwide delivery. Just wanting to point out a quality slim pouch can be found without the price tag and from elsewhere rather than China... www.ikonicedge.com