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Chinese Pirates Copy iPhone, Make Improvements

Posted by Zonk on from the that's-the-entrepreneurial-spirit dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Popular Science notes that manufacturers in China duplicate many well-know products. This includes the Apple iPhone, imitations of which are rolling off the assembly line already. That might actually be a good thing for some users, who might enjoy the user experience of China's own miniOne. 'It ran popular mobile software that the iPhone wouldn't. It worked with nearly every worldwide cellphone carrier, not just AT&T, and not only in the U.S. It promised to cost half as much as the iPhone and be available to 10 times as many consumers.' The cloned iPhone uses a Linux-based system. 'The cloners hire a team of between 20 and 40 engineers to begin decoding the circuit boards. At the same time, coders start to develop an operating system for the phone with a similar feature set. (The typical cloner either uses off-the-shelf code, writes something entirely new, or modifies a publicly available Linux-based system.)' Using the iPhone as an example, the PopSci site walks through the process of making imitation technology."

3 of 716 comments (clear)

  1. So how long before ... by tomhudson · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    "Using the iPhone as an example, the PopSci site walks through the process of making imitation technology"

    How long before Apple hits Popular Science with a DMCA takedown notice?

  2. Re:Cool! by Arthur+B. · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Nope capitalism is man's way that what's make it moral.

    --
    \u262D = \u5350
  3. Re:I'd much prefer a cheap clone to an iPhone by tfoss · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Indeed. And that's a very GOOD thing, everyone building upon the work of others.

    Pity that the west isn't into that. Instead we're into branding. /sigh
    Right, it's too bad that Apple didn't decide to build upon an existing operating system, improving it and making it better. Instead they just branded.
     

    Apple merely defines the specs, controls the integration
    Yeah, that piddling little part of releasing a new product...designing a truly novel, industry-changing piece of equipment. The kind of thing Linus or RMS would bang out in an afternoon.
     

    Kudos to China and to all those focussed on making things instead of on branding.
    I think you meant, copying and developing.

    -Ted
    --
    -=-=- Quantum physics - the dreams stuff are made of.