01/09/2008, 3:20pm, EST
Wednesday, January 9thiRiver prepping iPhone clone for end 2008
iRiver will enter the cellphone market with a device that bears an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone, say reports from the Consumer Electronics Show floor by PCMag. The Korean company, which normally makes portable media players, is exhibiting a prototype at the Las Vegas event known only as the "iRiver GSM phone" but which clearly takes cues from the Apple device. Its interface is almost entirely driven by an icon-based touchscreen layout with direct resemblances to the iPhone's front menu. Unlocking the device requires a near-identical sliding motion while other swiping motions help control scrolling and other navigation. Linux will underpin the OS.
Many hardware details are still undetermined but will share the same focus as Apple's device but with some potential advancements. The handset will revolve almost exclusively around its 3-inch, 480x272 touchscreen with only a single physical control at the bottom, and will focus on music and movies; however, the iRiver device will include support for music subscriptions through Real's Rhapsody service and should include Adobe Flash Lite to play video from YouTube and other sites without needing a special client. 4GB of internal flash memory is likely but not guaranteed, though mobile digital TV is expected.
Whether Wi-Fi will be included is uncertain. The device makers have already settled on 3G Internet access via HSPA and so will have less reason to include a fast short-range connection to close the gap. The confirmation has given iRiver an opportunity to criticize Apple for its decision to ship the initial iPhone with slower EDGE access, which rates only as 2.5G by many observers.
"It would be ridiculous for the phone to be 2G or 2.5G at this time," iRiver spokesman Owen Kwon says.
iRiver says it intends to release the GSM phone by the end of the year and that it should be less costly than the $399 iPhone. A release in the US is hinted in the unveiling and could potentially support AT&T, though iRiver has not said whether it expects legal challenges from Apple over the similarities in look and feel between each other's phones.
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As long as Apple can stay one release ahead and they keep the design and features ahead .. they will blitz the phone market.
When the Iphone was announced every competitor bagged the crap out of it .. now the entire cellular market are chasing to play catchup with Apple.
The one thing that no one else has is OSX
Yeah, two points made by other posters are right on:
- no other phone has OS X - by the time they release something, Apple will already be two more revisions ahead.
All 'competitors' can do is target what Apple has now, because most of them completely lack any vision or the concept of 'skating where the puck WILL be, not where it is"
Right on, Nokia, dumping more of last year's phone models on the market sure will make a difference.
Whatever.
I hope Apple don't sue them but keep this shit-brick hanging around as a permanent reminder of what's wrong with most tech companies...