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Keepin' it real fake

KIRFs are gadgets that are essentially copies of better known, more desirable rivals. Known as Shanzhai in China, they are the dark underbelly of the consumer electronics industry. When a product becomes particularly lusted after (the iPhone or the Nintendo Wii, for example) rogue manufacturers will copycat it, sometimes accurately, and sometimes with hilarious results. This is the "other" electronics industry, where companies like HiPhone, Chintendo and Nokla (with an "l") offer consumers OPhones, i-Bobs, Vainos, and Gemstas at prices too good to be true.
Yes, folks -- things are about to get really real. We have managed, through a series of delicate negotiations, to get our hands on an honest-to-goodness Meizu M8 -- heretofore the stuff of pure legend. At first glance, the build quality of the phone is actually pretty decent -- it's mostly plastic,...
Joseph L. Flatley
When the New York Times sent one of its ace reporters to Shenzhen to check out the KIRF scene, they came to a startling conclusion: these things are really quite popular. And why not? Your iPhone might be a terrific device, but is it really $400 better than the Hi-Phone, or the iorgane? Well, it's probably...
Donald Melanson
They're not hybrids or all-electrics, and you likely won't be distracted their overflowing in-car technology, so they're not exactly in our usual scope of coverage, but this new batch of vehicles from a couple of Chinese automakers is certainly right at home in our keepin' it real fake series, which...
Thomas Ricker
You know what Canon doesn't make? Right, Vacuum cleaners. Obvious to us but according to the site English Russian, a large Russian electronics supplier recently bought what they believed to be genuine Canon-made Vacuum cleaners. Why not, after all, that logo slapped all over the manuals and device...
Keepin' it real fake -- Engadget

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