Keepin' it real fake, part CCLIV: HTC Tattoo joins the WinMo gang, or appears to anyway
By Richard Lai 
posted February 21st 2010 7:58PM
posted February 21st 2010 7:58PM
posted February 21st 2010 7:58PM
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Well everybody wants to join WinMo now since the announcement of Windows Phone 7. Android get ready to get your ....kicked.
@Cheesus Crust
nuts.
@(Unverified) yea no i dont think windows mobile 7 is going to get anywhere just like the rest of the windows mobile phones... look around and see how much more popular Android and iPhone os powered phones are compared to windows mobile haha?
@lars1110 and it is snowing right now so there is no such thing as global warming. just because something is true now does not mean it is true forever.
@lars1110 Windows Phone 7 Series =! Windows Mobile 6
@lars1110: I'll tell ya why WinMob/phone will stick around...it's because of its entire platform, infrastructure, and tools that surround it, as well as its integrability from a corporate standpoint. Corporations have a much easier time integrating their sales force around sharepoint/exchange servers that have been in place for awhile than trying to force their systems to be compliant with a mish-mash of iPhone/Android/whatever phones that a work force wants to use for their daily work. Not only that, the application base for WinMob has been around for a decade, and I'm not talking a myriad of fart apps, I'm talking real tools that people can use to get work done. Even if WinMob never gained multitouch gestures and stayed stylus driven, it'd stick around in corporate circles JUST because of all of that. Since most people like having just one phone for work and home...the one they have to use for work is probably the one they'll hold onto the most.
Maybe if it were cheaper, but with Win7 Series coming latter this year, think that near $200 is better saved for a full featured Win7 Phone than this piece.
Funny how the box shows a Sense on Android running.
Last I heard the Tattoo was suppose to be pretty low cost, so that price could be almost realistic for real HTC Tattoo.
@Patlex
why didn't they use Android OS it's free and cheaper than licensing WinMo 6.5
@Drybones5 Probably all their Shenzhen design groups could do on a tight timeframe from the hardware platforms available to them.
It's easier, in essence, to take an already existent Windows Mobile clonephone design and get it to market than deal with building the drivers and so on from scratch to get it up and running on the handset.
Windows 6.X in my opinion is a much worse OS for that phone instead of android. My friends got a 6.5 windows phone and it crashes often
@BubblegumBalloon
Doesn't crash at all on a HD2. Not yet anyway.
@BubblegumBalloon
My friend wrecked his first car. I didnt......wonder whats up with that.....
But will it run windows phone 7 series?
I have a Tattoo, and upon visiting that link, I have to say the similarities between the real Tattoo and this KIRF are striking. I wouldn't be surprised if the removable shells were interchangeable.
@coolbho3000
They probably took the real thing and made molds of the exterior.
Wow, I've never seen a KIRF look so close to the original. You gotta give these guys credit.
Aside from that, where are the results for the Engadget 2009 Awards? You guys said at 2/20/2009 @ 11:59 EDT. It's been past that.
@SomePerson Even the battery appears to be the Tattoo OEM battery. Something tells me this is a Tattoo flashed to a Windows Mobile ROM.
It actually looks to be running 6.5.3, which beats most other Windows Mobile phones haha.
I still don't understand why they fake android when they can have the real one for free......
@num0
Because, they are too lazy to code it for their phone. Besides, that would make too much Sense... Geddit?
It's funny how the box shows sense on android and the phone really has stock Titanium for 6.5
What exactly is a "KIRF phone" and what does "KIRF" mean..
@Kibbe17
Keepin It Real Fake
@Chas Percodani
HAHAH IM AN IDIOT. Thanks. lol wow, couldnt put two and two together there..
I am also a Tattoo owner and that, physically, is one seriously nice knock off. Aside from the model number on the back, it looks nearly identical.
@moggyx and the button arrangement differs, but aside from that, well done KIRF makers, well done
The fact that this is legal anywhere is very sad.
Even the HTC logo is lifted right off the original.
'
The Tatoo is bad already (2.8" resistive with no hardware keyboard? No thanks). The KIRF can't be any better.
@ScienceProUSAcom Ouch, the Tattoo is actually quite a good phone. It is not capacitive for a reason. It is difficult to type on a capacitive screen that is that sized.
Some of us don't want a monstorous phone and the tattoo combined with Endomondo is perfect for me. I respect your opinion but it is a bit harsh to hate on a phone because it does not fit your needs. It is a solid little unit with a good operating system and compact size. It is far froma bad phone.
@ScienceProUSAcom Devices like these should be encouraged. If the device works as good as the one it imitates then the only tool that doesn't work is the person who jumps at a brand name simply because its a brand name.
Well what do you expect all china seem to do is copy everything popular . so don't be surprised if they start copying googles nexus one next! My colleague bought a chinese bar phone. I think that's pretty cheap actually and almost looks so real. looks decen as well. Pass fake imitation for genuine...
@ilovezog Not really. They can invent too (though they have awful designers). For example the Korsun (or whatever they are called now) amps, which are pretty good. Or, to some degree, the Meizu M8, which was very inspired by the iPhone, but with CE 6.0 as a base, on top of which they had to write the complete UI. I'd say they have done more than HTC with Sense UI. Though it was admittedly rather buggy, and still is probably.
@ilovezog Patent filings 2000 and 2006 from around the world:
http://www.managingip.com/images/587/68614/patent_filings.gif
China is now the third largest source (behind the US and Japan, but ahead of Europe and S Korea) which means they must be inventing something!
IP rights in China are still in a very sorry state I'm afraid.
lolz.. I wonder what HTC think about this :p
The tattoo is exactly what it is intended to be for its price and form factor : an entry level phone, not a pocket sized Hero. Sense UI makes it quite useable, but if youre into games and apps that favour a larger screen - best give it a miss.
Would make a good phone for the kiddies...
That looks like WinMo 6.5.3., which should make for some decent touch controls. Though given the Tattoo itself is only a resistive screen, I can't image that this KIRF is capacitive, which is a disappointment. Hell, this is even assuming the thing isn't just running 6.1 or a WinMo rip off anyway, lol.
As an aside, this is just more proof that carriers price gauge on their phones. You drop a decent amount on a phone and still get stuck with an insane ETF, a long ass contract, and a mandatory, expensive (sometimes unnecessary) data plan. And don't even get me started on the sky high prices of unlocked phones...
Wait, you're telling me that the Chinese are now copying...another Chinese company's designs? Oh, how the times have changed...
KIRF Crunk strikes again!