Kirf -- Engadget

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXXI: Apple's iPhone and iPod nano hook up, combine

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 9th 2009 at 9:44AM

Hey, Apple -- you know that inspiration you've been looking for in order to concoct a proper iPhone nano? We just found it. Over in some seedy warehouse in the depths of Shenzhen, the aptly titled iphone nano has emerged. As you could likely surmise, this completely improper knockoff gentle combines the best features from Apple's iPhone and the iPod nano to create a singular, if not awkward device. Heck, there's even a 5 megapixel camera, which easily trumps the 3.2 megapixel shooter on the iPhone 3GS. It's all yours for just 90 bones, and you don't even have to sign your cellular soul away to AT&T. Look out Apple, we get the feeling this thing's going to be huge.

[Thanks, facelessloser]

Keepin' It Real Fake, part CCXX: "Sony" T77 phone isn't a Cybershot... it's so much more

by Ross Miller, posted Jul 7th 2009 at 1:46AM

If you find the ten megapixels of (legit) Sony's DSC-T77 absolutely decadent, why not settle for (illegit) Sony's two megapixel-wielding T77 smartphone? The tradeoff for lower resolution pics is a dual SIM solution with Bluetooth A2DP support, FM radio, MP3/4 player, microSD slot, e-book reader capabilities, WAP connectivity, and a 3.2-inch WQVGA LCD display that's a tad smaller than its doppelganger. It's even got its own plectrum for rocking out with your, erm, KIRF out. Think this is everything you could possibly want and more? Decidedly Chinese vendor solomobi's selling it at $116.

[Thanks, facelessloser]

Keepin' It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta's Vaino knock-off

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jul 4th 2009 at 6:07AM

If the Vaino "ultraportable" seemed a little too... well, aspirational, the style mavens at Engadget have dug up a netbook that will certainly correlate with both your awesome sense of style and your self-identification as an OG (that's "original gemsta"). Dug up by some eagle-eyed KIRF-hunters at 2009's Shenzhen International Netbook Industry Fair & Forum, this guy sports an 8.9-inch display, an Intel Atom (Z515 / Z520 / Z530), 1GB RAM, up to 64GB storage, 3G, WiFi, SD card slot and more. We don't have a street date yet for you, but the price should be about 2000 yuan (that's about $294). And the best part? You won't have to worry about these guys stealing your thunder. One more pic after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Keepin' It Real Fake, part CCXIX: Gemsta's Vaino knock-off

SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever

by Thomas Ricker, posted Jun 30th 2009 at 1:48AM

One of our favorite intellectual property rips of recent months is without a doubt the SciPhone Dream G2 from China. Having completely missed the point of Google's open-source OS being, well, open-source and thus free for SciPhone's use, the company instead chose to hack the G2's "proprietory" OS to look like Android. The charger, however, built to look like the iconic Android mascot is pretty damn cute; enough so that the idea of paying $150 just to get our hands on the 100-240V USB charger has crossed our minds. See the Android's naughty bits after the break.

[Thanks, Steven]

Continue reading SciPhone Dream G2 Android charger is best ever

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVIII: iPhome 3G for the wim!

by Laura June, posted Jun 20th 2009 at 9:10PM

Sure, we've seen plenty of iPhone clones in our day, but we'll say this: this is the clome to beat all clomes. It really takes the KIRF standard up a notch, running the best fake OS X we've seen to date. This one's identity is less confused than many of the knockoffs we usually see, and if you're lucky enough to get your hands on one of these 4GB having-babies... well, you just might be able to convince your grandma that it's the iPhone 3G S. Video is after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVIII: iPhome 3G for the wim!

SciPhone shocker! N12 handset features 'genuine' Android OS

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 19th 2009 at 11:41AM

It looks we don't have ol' SciPhone to kick around anymore. Sure, we had some laughs -- mainly due to the fact that the irony-resistant handset manufacturer was ripping off an open source OS -- but now it looks like all that has changed. The SciPhone N12 (apparently) runs genuine Android, sports both quadband GSM and WCDMA (3G), and packs a 3.2-inch touchscreen, WiFi, a GPS module, CMMB TV support, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 624MHz Marvell processor under the hood. Listed for CNY $1,600 (roughly $234), this bad boy should be out June 25. Check out a couple more pics after the break.

[Via PMP Today]

Continue reading SciPhone shocker! N12 handset features 'genuine' Android OS

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVII: Not even Obama can sell us on BlockBerry

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 18th 2009 at 11:26AM

The ad reads: "Obama have BlackBerry, I have BlockBerry." BlockBerry, of course, being haff-comm's Huawei K3-based WinMo 6.1 handset. This Storm 9500 KIRF packs a 460MHZ processor, a 3.2-inch touchscreen, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, and supports 3G and EDGE. Some people's audacity, it seems, knows no limits.

HiPhone enters the laptop game, to our great amusement

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted Jun 18th 2009 at 9:58AM

Leave it to the brain trust at HiPhone to thwart our expectations. Instead of delivering a KIRF laptop befitting the company previously known for that dubious nano / Aura mash-up, the iLaptop-2009 makes no attempt to be anything other than what it is: a totally nondescript 12.1-inch device that sports an Intel N270 (1.6GHz) processor and a 160GB SATA HDD. Yours now for a cool $450. And have you seen the pics of this thing? Man, are they lousy -- so bad, in fact, that we feel compelled to include a gallery of them for your enjoyment. You're welcome.

Gallery: HiPhone enters the laptop game, to our great amusement

[Via PMP Today]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXVI: HiPhone F06-Slim is brewing up a Storm

by Ross Miller, posted Jun 17th 2009 at 4:17AM

Oh hi, HiPhone. Not much of a surprise to see you here, again. The latest masterpiece, the HiPhone F06-Slim, is a Frankenstein amalgamation of KIRF favorite iPhone and RIM's first foray into the world of touchscreen phones, albeit with a slightly smaller, 3.2-inch display. We're also looking at a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, microSD support, GPRS, Bluetooth, dual SIM card slots, and "TV phone" capabilities, which we're taking to mean a mobile receiver of some sort. Looks like it forgot the refresh button on the bottom of the device, but with any luck, it left out SurePress as well. If you hang out with the kind of friends who respect a good knockoff, the price of raising your street cred is just a penny under $190 before shipping.

[Via PMP Today]

Meizu M8 3G gets full specifications list, "planned" March 2010 release date

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 5th 2009 at 9:12PM

That little phone thing that Apple maybe-probably has planned for Monday? Yeah -- totally pales in comparison to what Meizu has up its sleeves. The long (long!) awaited M8 3G has finally been detailed, and the full specifications list is now available for your perusal. We're seeing TD-SCDMA and WCDMA radios, an 800MHz or 1GHz Samsung processor, 3.54-inch display (with a staggering 720 x 480 resolution), USB 2.0 connectivity, 8GB or 16GB of flash storage, a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and of course, the infamous Meizu OS. There's also support for Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, multi-touch, a light sensor and tilt sensing. Go ahead and mark your iCals, folks, 'cause this one's got a rock-solid "planned" release date of March 2010. Where's the time machine when you really need, it?

[Via PMP Today]

Keepin' it real fake, Computex edition: Arc Mouse gets aped

by Darren Murph, posted Jun 5th 2009 at 8:32PM

Hey, Microsoft -- you're pretty proud of that Arc Mouse, yeah? If so, you should probably alert your legal team to the image shown above, as it seems one BOL-LINK has decided it best to just copy the arching input peripheral you helped pioneer and showcase it to onlookers in Taiwan. Then again, these guys did use a slightly different color scheme...

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXV: HiPhone Nano meets Aura in a knock-off of modest proportions

by Joseph L. Flatley, posted May 29th 2009 at 4:20PM

The Egs HiPhone Nano F210 borrows some of the aura of... well, the Aura. And why not? Half the fun of the KIRF scene is the way that these bandits mix and match aspects of devices according to whatever crazy whim they might be experiencing at the moment. (The other half of the fun? Exploding batteries, of course.) Along with the stylish and quite possibly functional iPod click wheel, this bad boy features: tri-band GSM, a 1.4-inch screen, VGA camera, Bluetooth A2DP, FM tuner, and some sort of media player. As China Grabber puts it: "This is tailor-made for small girls in mobile phones, will the pursuit of individuality, culture, dare to do you a taste of delicacy!!!" Yours today for $139.99. If you're feeling lucky (or you've done something wrong in your past) hit that read link and see for yourself.

[Via PMP Today]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXIV: Fake iPod shuffle offers most of the minimalism, none of the perks

by Paul Miller, posted May 28th 2009 at 2:45AM

The current generation iPod shuffle is a funny beast in its own right, but the "Clip-On Mp3 Shuffler Player" from Digital Rise really takes the form factor to new comic heights. There appear to be two physical buttons, a presumptive hold switch, and no headphone controls to speak of. At the same time, the player packs in FM radio, audio recording, an equalizer, a bevy of playback modes and even tempo adjustment. We're sure Digital Rise has solved the usability problems here with unwavering elegance.

[Via PMP Today]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXIII: Magic trick goes awry on eBay

by Darren Murph, posted May 20th 2009 at 9:59PM

Sigh. Where to begin? It looks like a Magic, it smells like a Magic, but the perfectionist in us fully understands that it's absolutely not a Magic. The self-proclaimed followup to HTC's G1 has itself an impostor, and that very shammer is parading around on eBay for the low, low price of $122.99. Granted, that doesn't buy you an HTC logo, Android or 3G, but hey, it just might fool a few folks on the subway. Take it from us, though, it's totally not worth the risk of embarrassment.

[Thanks, Jeremy]

Keepin' it real fake, part CCXII: Nokia's N86 cloned ahead of release

by Darren Murph, posted May 20th 2009 at 1:06PM

It's a sad state of things in the smartphone arena, folks. Nokia can't even get its forthcoming N86 out of the door in official fashion before the cloning labs in China push out a suitable impostor. Of course, it's not as if this hasn't happened to Nokia before, but with such an anti-knockoff mentality, you think it'd take a little action to make the nightmare stop. Or maybe it secretly adores the attention -- yeah, that has to be it.

[Thanks, Jason]