MP7 phone makes MP3 feel totally insignificant

We've seen phones that push the boundaries of chintziness, but this newfangled MP7 phone really shows what humans are capable of when they've no motivation to assemble a decent product. Granted, most everything here is lost in translation, but the blatant "Blue tooth" logo on the front pretty much sets it up for disaster. Nevertheless, this GSM handset reportedly comes in silver or black and features a 320 x 240 touchscreen display, a 1.3-megapixel camera, built-in FM tuner and support for some form of mobile TV along with the elusive "MP7" format. Best of all, this marvelous gem of handset engineering can be had for $599.90 (or a dozen easy payments of $59.99) -- we can hear the N95 cowering from here (or is that laughter?).

[Via Saporra]

[Erik @ Mar 10th 2008 6:12AM]

I'm still waiting for my MP48s and HHDDVVDDBVD players.

So at least MP7 is a step in the right direction.

[Jared @ Mar 10th 2008 7:36PM]

I hope I'm not the only person that got that.

For all of you that don't, http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5357724162328865131&q=red+vs+blue+go+go+gadget+video&total=64&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

[Byzil Mystwing @ Mar 10th 2008 6:16AM]

MP7? wtf, that's more than twice as good as MP3! All my equipment is completely useless now!

[OneLove @ Mar 10th 2008 1:17PM]

2.33333333333 as good

[MXY @ Mar 10th 2008 6:16AM]

I think they may meen MPEG 7, as this is an actual standard...

http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/standards/mpeg-7/mpeg-7.htm

Hope this helps out with the mysteries of MPEG 5 and 6 :)

[Danger mouse @ Mar 10th 2008 6:20AM]

Does it also have Dollby 9.3 surround sound and 11 speakers on the back?

[Amol @ Mar 10th 2008 6:25AM]

Looks ghey IMHO.

[James @ Mar 10th 2008 12:15PM]

Like you for spelling gay wrong?

[Amol @ Mar 10th 2008 2:19PM]

@James: What do you want me to say? This contraption - I mean phone - is the best thing anyone has come up with so far and that it simply blows away the competition to Neptune's moons?

[Bufsabre @ Mar 10th 2008 6:27AM]

come on, it has blue tooth, it has to be good?

right?

[Joop @ Mar 10th 2008 6:43AM]

but.. will it blend?

[Raheem @ Mar 10th 2008 12:07PM]

Oh dear Lord I hope someone blends YOU.

[DWells55 @ Mar 10th 2008 6:44AM]

I saw "MP7 phone" in the RSS feed expecting to see some beautiful hybrid cell phone/submachine gun made by Heckler & Koch that was capable of both text messaging and penetrating body armor. Boy was I disappointed.

[Tim Brown @ Mar 10th 2008 6:53AM]

My guess is that they are cheating by doing the following sales department maths: mp3 + mp4 = mp7 = better than everything else. Sales people, don't you just love the logic!

[Det. @ Mar 10th 2008 6:55AM]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP7
somehow I don't think this is it...

[producerism @ Mar 10th 2008 7:20AM]

The only reason anyone would ever manufacture or purchase something as bad as this, could only be for money loitering, or tax evasion. My brain hurts from even seeing that logo on the phone.

[Mark Kent @ Mar 10th 2008 7:31AM]

I can never get my money to loiter; just keeps running away!

[producerism @ Mar 10th 2008 7:40AM]

thank you for pointing out i'm an idiot.

[Riley @ Mar 10th 2008 7:30AM]

I happen to live in Central China and I must say that the level of ripoffs/blatant IP theft is barely even scratched on this site. My favorite thing was when my students were explaining that MP4 was better than MP3 yet had no idea that it was audio/video. These cheap phones, are all over the place and break faster than anything you have ever seen. Basically, any big brand is ripped off and the problem is not the money that is lost but real companies' reputations suffer because it's hard to distinguish between the real and the fake. The second I saw the Blue Tooth, I knew it was Chinglish.

[cradle @ Mar 14th 2008 3:26AM]

I'm pretty sure that brand reputations don't suffer - do you honestly think that people can't tell the difference between a cellphone made of tupperware and "blu-tool" emblazened on the side that breaks in 2 weeks and a real nokia (or whatever)?

If they can't, I'm pretty sure they don't live in any real kind of market.

Also, they markets for knock-offs and real items are quite distinct. I bought a fake rolex - not in place of buying a real one, but because I wanted some watch that looked like a rolex. The crappy manufacturer gets his slice of the pie, rolex doesnt lose a sale, rolex's 'brand rep' is not hurt when the watch breaks (i KNOW its CRAP).....etc etc

[duffman @ Mar 10th 2008 8:16AM]

"$599.90 (or a dozen easy payments of $59.99)"

You have nice maths Mr Murphs.

[HopefulNebula @ Mar 10th 2008 10:20AM]

I think that's the point. :p

[Brodie-san @ Mar 10th 2008 9:25AM]

Can someone tell me the origins of the "will it blend?" meme?

Whenever I see it I piss myself laughing and I have no idea why.

That is all.

[francoiswiid @ Mar 10th 2008 10:19AM]

willitblend.com

[HopefulNebula @ Mar 10th 2008 10:19AM]

Look it up on YouTube.

[kevjohn @ Mar 10th 2008 10:45AM]

At least is didn't say "Brue Toof".

[shaliron @ Mar 10th 2008 11:31AM]

Ah, dangit! And here I was with my newly bought MP5 player.

[Superevil @ Mar 10th 2008 11:35AM]

I bet it lasts less than a week with normal usage.

[TheWB @ Mar 10th 2008 12:47PM]

Could someone explain to me, what's so bad about this phone?

[MeeGel @ Mar 10th 2008 1:09PM]

That's one FUGLY unit. My 3yo son might pick one of these up on our next "dollar store run".

[morituri @ Mar 10th 2008 8:30PM]

I've seen some of these phones sold locally (not in the US) for less than US$300. The TV part is very interesting - it has an analog TV tuner & antenna built in. Picture quality is not great, but watchable.

[tanooki2003 @ Mar 11th 2008 11:37AM]

I can get some of these phones for no more than $128. I don't know what crackpot smoking junkie thinks they can sell these for $600 unless the person buying them was smoking something even worse.

[Pedro @ Mar 11th 2008 10:09PM]

That's not actually US$599, it was messed up by the translation. It's R$599 (in Brazilian Reais, BRL), about US$355 right now. The TV is analog.

That site is Brazil's eBay. Since there is a tax of 60% (or something like that) in most imported products, there are lots of creepy things like this over there. Oh, and an iPhone (8GB), for example, is priced R$1600/US$948!