MeizuM9
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Refresh Roundup: week of March 26th, 2012
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging for an update. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery we could find during the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy!
Meizu MX hangs out with the M9, Xiaomi Phone, Nokia N9 and many more friends
What better way to welcome a new boy in town than just a quick hands-on with it? Well, how about throwing a mini phone party for the Meizu MX? We just so happened to have a stash of phones with us today: the M9, iPhone 4S, Nokia N9, Xiaomi Phone, Galaxy S II and Galaxy Note. Conveniently, the MX's four-inch display lets it sit bang in the middle of the group, and the phone also turns out to be a tad thinner, narrower and shorter than the Xiaomi Phone. Of course, we'll dig a little deeper in our review, so stay tuned and enjoy our party pics for now. %Gallery-141324%
Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Meizu M9, MX, Jack Wong confirms
Ice Cream Sandwich continues to march its way across the market. Next stop? The Meizu M9 and MX. Confirmation came earlier this week by way of Meizu CEO Jack Wong, who nonchalantly mentioned the forthcoming update on his company's forum. Affirming that the MX's December "release date remains unchanged," Wong went on to say that both the MX and M9 "will upgrade to [Android] 4.0 as soon as possible." No further specifics were offered, though the exec did explain the MX's delayed release, attributing it to his company's ongoing efforts to incorporate a sharper, back-illuminated camera within the handset. Rest assured, we'll keep you up to date with the very latest.
Meizu M9 gets Gingerbread update, taunts townsfolk to catch and eat it
We were admittedly a bit skeptical when Meizu CEO Jack Wong first starting talking up the M9 Android handset -- in fact, the word "vaporware" may have been tossed around a bit. The exec proved our caution unfounded, however, delivering the phone into the hands of China's incredibly enthusiastic smartphone buyers. Then Wong briefly turned his attention away from the handset to give us a taste of its successor, but now the he's back -- with a downloadable Gingerbread update for his beloved M9. Results of the upgrade have been mixed at best, with users reporting some minor power and display problems on one end of the spectrum and improved audio the other. If you must download, check out the source link below -- just don't say we didn't warn you. [Thanks, Mason]
Exclusive: A day trip to Meizu's factory (video)
Jack Wong is a very lucky guy. Or you can say he's very unfortunate. On one hand, his eight-year-old Meizu label -- literally meaning "the captivating tribe" -- has rapidly become one of the most popular brands amongst Chinese gadget lovers, yet all he's producing right now is just the one phone: the M9. On the other hand, the now-discontinued M8 had notoriously caught unwanted attention from Apple, and even the recent M9 launch saw accusations of Meizu hiring people to stand in line. But the latter points are irrelevant for now -- what we're really interested in is how a teensy MP3 player factory managed to outpace its numerous competitors to become a reputable smartphone maker with a huge fan base. To help us understand what drives the company, we decided to pay Meizu a visit. Go on, you know where to click. %Gallery-115342%
Holy reverse KIRF Batman! Meizu M9 ROM ported to HTC EVO 4G
Some industrious hackers have created a port of the Meizu M9 ROM for the HTC EVO 4G, bringing a little KIRF flavor to Sprint's favorite jumbo phone. The port is still in the developmental stages, but most of the M9 functionality appears to already be working, with only the port from GSM to CDMA and tweaks to screen resolution left to do. After a little spit-shine to make sure the build is stable, EVO owners can finally see what the Meizu M9 fuss is all about without having to actually buy one. Of course, why you'd actually want to do this to your perfectly functional Android phone is a question that may never truly find a legitimate answer.
Meizu M9 escapes the Great Wall of China, unofficially available for global Android addicts
If you've been closely following Meizu, chances are you would've heard about the wild M9 launch across China from just a few days ago. Sadly, said smartphone maker told us that it has absolutely no interest in reaching out to other countries in the near future, but potential foreign buyers now have an option: Hong Kong-based DealExtreme is offering the 8GB Android Froyo device for $449 -- a $70 markup -- with free shipping. Not a bad alternative to the M9's Hummingbird buddy Galaxy S that goes for about $570 sans contract, and bear in mind that the former is still the first Android phone to sport a 3.5-inch 960 x 640 display. Maybe this is a good time to spend your holiday cash. [Thanks, Dave; original image credit: Getty Images]
Meizu's M9 launch amasses thousands of Jack Wong fans across China (video)
Pretty impressive, isn't it? Meizu sure has made a wise decision to launch its M9 Android Froyo phone on the first day of 2011 which, like most other countries, happens to be a public holiday in China. According to some Meizu fans (aka "Mei-yo" or literally "friends of Meizu") outside one of the two Shenzhen stores, there were already about 60 people lined up outside at around 6am. A few of them even braved the cold weather since 8pm last night, despite CEO Jack Wong actively discouraging such hustle on the forum for the sake of people's health, promising "all the flagship stores will have sufficient stock" for all pre-orderers. Meizu wasn't keen on giving us an official number, but the two Shenzhen stores alone could've easily served several thousand customers this morning. With no limit on how many units each person could pre-order (¥2,499 / $379 for 8GB, and ¥2,699 / $409 for 16GB), you can imagine Meizu's assembly lines working long hours to supply its stores from 28 other provinces in China. Meanwhile, somewhere out there, Mr. Wong is happily checking his bank account. Video after the break. %Gallery-112279%
Meizu M9 ripped apart, out flies a Hummingbird processor
You've seen Jack Wong's baby from every angle and taken a deep dive through the UI -- now, feast your eyes on the juicy silicon insides. Forumgoers at gadget portal 163.com and Soomal cracked open the Retina Display-wielding device this week, and there's a good bit to see. Sure enough, there's the 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird we were promised, some TriQuint communication chips, and a lot of tiny covers on a fairly stacked little board. Check out our source links for the full teardown; you'll find plenty more pics where this one came from.
Engadget Chinese gets hands-on with the Meizu M9
We harbored our doubts as to whether the Meizu M9 would ever be more than unicorn, prancing around the grey matter of CEO Jack Wong, but lo and behold, a honest-to-goodness handset just arrived at our Chinese counterparts' door. Our brothers-from-other-mothers at Engadget Chinese have yet to put that Retina Display-alike through the wringer, but their cameras have been popping nonstop, and if you're curious about the literal shape of things to come -- or just about any facet of Meizu's customized Android 2.2 UI -- you'll find it in pictures below. %Gallery-111634%%Gallery-111632%
Meizu M8 ceases production amid pressure from Apple and intellectual property office
Well, can't say we didn't see this coming; we're just surprised that it's taken this long for Meizu to take a hit over its notorious handset. In case you have no idea what we're talking about, earlier this month said Chinese company's been in heated talks with Apple due to the M8 smartphone bearing an "appearance roughly similar" to the iPhone. Seriously, that's the only reason Apple provided for the accusation, if CEO Jack Wong is to be trusted (and hey, he did kinda ask for it). Anyhow, the latest development is that Meizu's bowing to pressure from both the provincial intellectual property office and Cupertino, and announced that it's shutting down production lines for its flagship M8 this month. This is no doubt a big blow to the company, but it might get even nastier -- here's what Jack said in one of his many frustrated forum postings: Apple requested that we cease manufacturing the M8 this month, we agreed but then [Apple] came back and asked for a sales ban instead. I can cope with a production freeze, but not with having our shops closed and thus not being able to use up our inventory. If Apple and the provincial IPO take another insatiable step, I can only go head to head against them. So, it looks like the M8's all set for an early retirement, either way -- it doesn't look like Apple's going to let this one go easily, and Jack's also expressed concern over the fact that the IPO has the power to shut his factory down without going to court. That said, things are still looking positive for the elusive M9 -- from the sounds of it, Meizu's upcoming Android phone isn't affected by this takedown (yet); but the question is whether Jack and co. can keep the shops running until a December launch for their next flagship device. Oh well, hang in there, Meizu!
Meizu CEO Jack Wong: Oh hey, the new iPod touch 'looks a bit like the M9II'
Should there be an international award for Cheekiest Man of the Year, it'd have to go to Meizu's shameless Jack Wong. Shortly after Apple's keynote last week, the CEO of KIRFdom seized the opportunity to cry foul on the new iPod touch, claiming it "looks a bit like" his forthcoming M9II Android phone, as pictured above. Wait, M9II? Turns out even though the M9 has yet to materialize in early October, Mr. Wong already has an enhanced model to be brought forth by his faithful unicorns. Assuming both M9 series devices will carry the same Meizu-fied Android 2.2 software, the only known differences on the M9II include a larger 4-inch display (as opposed to 3.5 inches at 960 x 640), the additional front-facing camera plus flash for the rear camera, and a Cortex-A9 CPU. To play devil's advocate, we'd actually suggest Wong skip the M9 for this lovely dream phone, but we're probably too late -- check out his snazzy prototype M9 after the break.
Meizu CEO Jack Wong leaks, pulls M9 pics
Jack Wong, why does he tease us so? If you haven't been following the M8 forums as religiously as you used to, you might have missed the news that our man in Guangdong leaked the definitive blurrycam photos of what appears to be the Meizu M9 Android handset. Not long after leaking the pics he deleted the post and closed all threads, explaining: "sorry, my fault. i am just too excited and wanna share with your guys." Although his cavalier attitude might end up breaking a few hearts 'round here, we can definitely appreciate his enthusiasm. One more pic after the break.
Meizu M9 getting Android 2.1, possible August release?
Well, what do you know -- perhaps there is an M9 in your future (or someone's future) after all! After hearing the one and only Jack Wong detail the thing earlier this year, Beareyes.com is reporting that the device -- with the same 3.6-inch display, 1 GHz (Samsung S5PC110) CPU, HDMI 1.3 out and more -- may be out as early as this August. We think this is certainly do-able, although anything can happen -- as the drawn-out gestation of a certain Meizu M8 made painfully clear. The new news? Rather than KIRFin' up an Apple-esque interface, it looks like Android 2.1 might just be on tap. Sweet, eh? Look for it August 18, for around $350 depending on options... but don't be surprised if you're still looking long past the target date.
Meizu CEO teases M9 specs, vaporware threat level: orange
Meizu's irrepressible CEO J. Wong is up to his teasing ways again with more details on the M8's successor, the aptly-named M9 -- and actually, there's nothing about the list that doesn't sound doable for a 2010 release (famous last words, we know). Specifically, the dude's saying that we can expect a 1GHz Cortex A8-based Samsung S5PC110 core, half a gig of RAM and ROM, a 5 megapixel cam, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS, TV-out, microSD expansion, and a 3.6-inch screen clocking in at 720 x 480 resolution. Interestingly, he's holding the line on committing to deliver WCDMA, CDMA, and TD-SCDMA versions simultaneously -- theoretically good enough to deliver 3G on China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile, respectively -- with a price in the range of 2,500 yuan (about $366). Possible? Yes -- but with as checkered a past as the good ol' M8 has, we'll believe this one when it's in our hands and not a moment sooner.
