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Meizu prototype caught in the flesh at CeBIT, we handle it
We've finally seen the M8 in the wild, made with real molecules -- sort of. The prototype being passed around doesn't really function beyond showing a few screens, though a rough cut of the full interface was available on a decidedly un-M8 looking prototype board. Check out our comprehensive coverage of the device, which looks nothing like the iPhone, below!Read - Video: Meizu M8 mini One OS looks very, very familiarRead - Video: Meizu M8 mini OneRead - Meizu M8 mini One vs. iPhone... fight!
Video: Meizu M8 mini One OS looks very, very familiar
Besides that very early prototype handset, Meizu also brought along a rough (and we mean rough) engineering board and display to show off the M8 mini One's UI and feature set. It was lacking Bluetooth, camera, or WiFi so we weren't able to see those features of the Opera browser which the mini One will one day happily tout. Still, we had high hopes of seeing just how talented Meizu's software engineers are at recreating the iPhone's lauded user experience. Well, from the demo we saw, they've come pretty close but they've got some serious house cleaning to do before the August launch. Rubber banding scroll bars, finger flick gestures, big inviting icons... it's all there. Unfortunately, the wheels fell off when set to motion. Meizu claims the issues seen during the demo are due to the display -- a stock, touchscreen and sensor with plastic screen (the final product will be glass) which was quickly cobbled together for the purposes of the CeBIT demonstration. Regardless, finger taps were more often than not greeted with cold, stilted silence. Be sure to check out the video to hear how Meizu's device is different than the iPhone. It's a bit long and sometimes painful, but if you hang in there long enough you'll see (and hear) Engadget get the first public phone call from a Meizu M8 mini One... prototype, thingy.
Video: Meizu M8 mini One
It's just three screens on a very early prototype, but for those of you who doubt Meizu's ability to bring the M8 to market, we give you -- the video. Sure, Meizu's just rendering three image files as opposed to any real processing. Nevertheless, there's plenty of catchy dialog to hold you over until these pups go live in China sometime around August. Who knew English as a second language could be so fun.
Meizu M8 mini One vs. iPhone... fight!
So we finally had the chance to lay palms to Meizu's M8 prototype. Better yet, we set it up side by side with it's muse, the Apple iPhone. Let's be clear, the prototype is not functional by any stretch of the imagination. It simply turns on and then slaps up one of three images representing the home screen, dialer, or media player depending upon which of the three physical buttons you press along the bottom of the main display. The capacitive touch panel does not work at all. While the physical components may or may not be in place, this is clearly a very early engineering sample. Having said that, Meizu claims that the hardware is complete and final -- they are only working on their Meizu OS tweaks to the Windows CE 6.0 base. However, the GUI and icon designs are pretty much locked in at this point with only minor changes expected before this hits China this August for a to be determined price. Unfortunately, Meizu is still working on their international deployment strategy (duh, they're looking to sign up distributors at CeBIT) so they are not willing to commit to any dates or prices. Gotta say, for all our justifiable M8 bashing, the mini One felt good in the hand and the additional hard buttons, 720 x 480 pixel display, 3 megapixel camera and likely el cheapo price tag have once again perked our interests. Still, it's a long way from it's original 3G HSDPA and kitchen-sink roots and a bit too late (GSM/EDGE in 6 months, Puh-leeze) at this point to be anything more than a novelty outside of China. Nevertheless, the development lifecycle has been fun to watch. Click through for the main features and specifications expected at launch. Video in a jiffy.Update: Video now available, also of the UI.%Gallery-17473%
Meizu's M8 a CeBIT no show just like CES -- surprised?
So we hurried on over to the Meizu booth in sweaty-palmed anticipation of laying fleshy bits upon a working M8 MiniOne. It's gotta be here, right? After all, Meizu CEO Jack Wong promised it his damn self. Nope. Oh sure, they did bring that siliconless, plastic mockup already seen kicking around the Nets for awhile and they offered to show us a laptop-based demo of the UI if we come back tomorrow. Although even the demo is feature incomplete. Nevertheless, Meizu is confident that it will begin shipping the M8 in China in the next "half year" while remaining coy for a rest-of-world launch. Guess reverse engineering the iPhone isn't so easy, eh Jackson?
Meizu M8 now on sale? Doubtful.
Given the sheer bulk of press Meizu's M8 has received over the course of its young, controversial life, it'd seem likely that even the slightest trickle of units onto Chinese store shelves would lead to unboxing shots, videos, and reviews within hours, wouldn't it? Reports are starting to flow across the 'nets that M8s are now being made available through several of Meizu's suppliers, but without a single in-the-wild picture of a fully functional, final spec unit -- from Meizu, much less a paying customer -- we're not buying it. For one thing, there aren't any "zomg I just picked up my m8!" posts on MeizuMe; secondly, MeizuMe's Err0r says that his site will be the "first place" we read about a release (and frankly, we believe him); and third, after the trials and tribulations the handset has gone through on its long journey to retail, you'd think that we'd at least see it at a trade show before it hit the streets. So, anyone want to prove us wrong by posting shots of their M8?
Meizu M8 hits the Chinese patent office, top of the irony meter
t Given the Meizu M8's not-so-faint resemblance to another semi-famous handheld, you'd think trying to get a patent on the design would be fairly fruitless -- but it looks like the company's giving it a shot anyway. This Chinese patent app was apparently filed last February, but China's patent office just published it on the 16th, so we're not even certain which bad render, doctored photo, or cardboard mockup of the M8 is referenced within. Still, Jack Wong had better get his lawyers in gear and get this patent on the books -- Apple might be slow in getting to China, but it's not going to be happy once it does.
Meizu MiniOne to miss CES; Jack Wong promises it'll be at CeBIT, your next softball game
We would have honestly been more surprised if Meizu had actually shown up at CES with a working MiniOne, but according to CEO Jack Wong it's not going to a happen because Meizu is busy "finetuning" the device -- and that it'll make its long-awaited debut at CeBIT in March. We'll see when we see -- Apple's lawyers would have us stalling as well -- but we were definitely suspicious when Wong also promised that the MiniOne would take us to California next week to meet its pro skateboarder friends and then drove off in an white '89 Camaro.
Meizu M8 getting facelifted, three buttons instead of one
Meizu's Windows CE-based M8 continues to get tweaked ahead of an alleged CES debut, but the company is breaking from tradition and forgoing the typical renderings or dummies. Why? Turns out they're adding a couple of extra buttons up front -- three in total now -- and Meizu's CEO wants to keep the design under wraps while it navigates the patent process. We're not too sure what exactly there is to patent about a triplet of buttons, but hey, if these guys can get a little IP under their belts, it might give some much-needed street cred in the "we're not an iPhone clone" argument. Pictured here is a fan rendering of... well, you know, what three buttons might look like (in case you needed some help visualizing it) along with what is said to be the back of Meizu's latest prototype.
Meizu mocks up the M8 MiniOne
These pictures of what appears to be a Meizu M8 MiniOne have been popping up all over, but according to postings by CEO Jack Wong, this is just a final design mockup to judge the "feel" of the device, and isn't real -- in fact, it's not even made of the planned production materials. That's pretty random -- and probably way more effort than necessary, since we'd think you could judge the feel by, you know, purchasing and holding an iPhone.Update:New UI design?may be.
Meizu rips off artist to showcase iPhone ripoff
Why merely steal the entirety of your product's industrial design and user interface when you can gank so much more? Philip Warner of Lithium Picnic studios dropped us a line to let us know that the wallpaper being used on the latest rendering of Meizu's M8 MiniOne is his own work -- and surprise, surprise, Meizu hasn't licensed it, which ironically only serves to rip off Apple's own ripping off of artists. Yeah, you've gotta have stones to survive in this industry, but Meizu's chutzpah takes it to a whole new level, particularly if they makes good on their apparent intention to debut the M8 stateside at CES in a few weeks. Then again, when they said "CES," maybe they meant some knockoff tradeshow held in a vacant lot somewhere.[Image via CNMO]
Meizu M8 MiniOne to debut at CES in January?
Listen fellas, are you sure you want to venture onto US soil with this thing? Compared to Meizu's native China, the US is a haven for intellectual property protection -- and as far as we're concerned, not a single tweak done to the M8's design since its intro has ventured far enough from the iPhone to keep Apple's sharks lawyers from circling. Nevertheless, Chinese site CNMO reports that the M8 could make its first real, actual public appearance (as opposed to the countless renderings and dummies the company has produced so far) in Sin City itself as part of the CES festivities in early January with retail availability as early as February. That would put us just shy of a full year since the M8 was announced, and probably just weeks (if not days) before Apple gets an injunction against sales here. Just a guess.[Via myminiOne and Meizu Me]
Meizu's M8 MiniOne gets touched
Everybody's favorite IP duplication engine is back in the news. Meizu's M8 Mini One iPhone clone just received an iPod touch makeover in a bid for protection from Apple's lawyers. See, the M8 is a phone, the touch is an MP3 player -- so toootally different your honor. They've also bumped the display from 3.3- to 3.4-inches with pricing still pegged at about $265 / $320 / $400 for the 4GB / 8GB / 16GB models if they ever make it Stateside... or locally to China for that matter. We're at 10 months and counting since it was announced.
Meizu's MiniOne M8 GUI showcased further, still devoid of originality
If you had even a sliver of faith left in Meizu that it would change its copycatting ways and turn its heart to creativity, you're probably feeling quite foolish right about now. In a recent posting made to showcase even more interface shots of the MiniOne M8, we got a glimpse at the not at all familiar music interface, more insight on the calling screens and a few more looks (shown after the jump) at how it'll handle messaging. Needless to say, we can just swear we've seen a similar GUI before, but apparently, playing the ignorance card makes it easier to swallow. Oh, and the actual phone now sports a "new edge" with a somewhat grayish motif -- enthralling, we know.
Meizu's MiniOne M8 GUI exposed: shame on you J. Wong
Ok Meizu, seriously, with your M7 announced a week after the iPod touch and your CEO J.Wong just posting these new interface shots of the M8 to your user forum, how can we or any straight talking rag not call you for what you are: a brazen Chinese Apple cloning machine? We understand that any full-screen, touchscreen phone or DAP will look pretty similar given the limited panel sizes available to manufacturers. The possibilities with the user interface are however, infinite. We already know that you have a half dozen or so iPhones in-house so please, just admit to your "inspiration." No more weightless claims that your design appeared four days before the iPhone unveiling. You're not fooling anyone. %Gallery-7664%[Via MeizuMe]
Meizu M7 doesn't look familiar at all
Well, that didn't take long. Hot on the heels of the iPod touch starting to ship, spunky Chinese upstart Meizu has announce the M7, a curiously-familiar PMP featuring a 3-inch touchscreen. Meizu CEO Jack Wong announced the player on the company's forums, so details are a little sketchy, but it looks like the unit will feature a 16:9 480 x 288 screen and support H.264 playback. The picture is apparently a mockup, but we're hearing that the M7 will go on sale in late 2008 in 1GB, 2GB and 8GB versions for $100, $110, and $150. Of course, given how long it's taken the M8 to hit, that's all up in the air, but something tells us we'll be hearing a lot about this thing in the future.[Via PMP Today]
Meizu's M8 MiniOne shipping January 17th?
Alright, so this isn't straight from the horse's mouth, but this potential ship date for the Meizu M8 definitely vibes with what we've heard up until now. This one has a new price too, at $788.50, which is a fair amount less than the $989 number floating around. Anyway, sounds like we'll have a few months yet until the 16GB iPhone influenced phone hits. Why so long, Meizu?[Thanks, Alexander]
Meizu's 8GB M6 Mini Player SL: just 7.3-mm thin and $146
Meizu's second generation M6 is now official. The M6 Mini Player SL (as in SLim) is just 7.3-mm thin yet still manages to increase the viewing angle of the the original's 2.4-inch display. The new M6 is also said to produce better audio quality thanks to a new DSP while adding support for lossless Monkey's Audio (APE) file format. Sure, that slim profile forced Meizu into a smaller battery but the player still manages to pump 26-hours of audio and 4.5-hours of video off a single charge. Hits China on September 25th in 2/4/8GB capacities in prices up to Y1,099 or about $146 of the green stuff -- unreal. Funny how Meizu doesn't make a peep until Apple makes an announcement.
Meizu's prepping the mDock for blasting M6 tunes
Just like its favorite "inspiration" did so infamously last year, Meizu is getting into the speaker game to prop up those DAPs it's been pedaling. Also true to form, Meizu seems to have skipped over the R&D phase and looks to be rebadging the existing Fiio PS1120 Meizu-compatible speaker dock. Now known as the "mDock," the unit will support the M6 Mini Player out of the box, and has a top adapter that can replaced to support other Meizu models in the future, like the M3 Music Card. Brace yourselves for a September-ish release.
First "real" snapshots of Meizu's M8 supposedly surface
We'll be the first to admit that the first "real" photographs of Meizu's M8 still appear mighty doctored, but hey, so long as the final product looks this good, we'll be content. Nevertheless, the firm has made available three supposed snapshots for us to drool over, and while we're far beyond the point of actually believing anything these guys say in regard to a release date, the latest news on that front has the finalized unit ready for testing by the year's end. 'Course, there's still no set date for actually getting it into the needy hands of consumers everywhere, but the most recent price estimates peg the 4GB M8 at 2,380CNY ($314) and the 8GB version at 2,880CNY ($380). Per usual, feel free to peep the other two snaps after the jump.[Via MyMiniOne]
