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Chinese 'Apple Peel' Turns iPods Into iPhones

Posted by timothy on from the cheap-data-is-the-key dept.

angry tapir writes "The Apple Peel 520, a Chinese-developed product that drew the media's attention for being able to turn an iPod Touch into an iPhone-like device, is coming to America. The add-on device, which just went on sale in China, has been billed as a more affordable option for users wanting to get their hands on an iPhone, but lacking the budget."

5 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oh, that's what they do? by FuckingNickName · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wait, are you saying that tethering your iPod Touch (or any other TCP/IP client) to some sort of mobile network gateway is, "a case of [those pesky Chinese] doing whatever the hell they please because they have no appreciation for the hard work of [Apple]"?

    The biggest differentiator between an iPhone and an iPod Touch is the 3G radio. Guess who didn't develop GSM tech, but doesn't adhere to the licensing terms offered by the developer? I guess it's a case of [Apple] doing whatever the hell they please because they have no appreciation for the hard work of [Nokia].

  2. Re:I hear lawyers licking their chops... by Der+Huhn+Teufel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    China values imitation much more than the USA does.

  3. This will work great by Mr.+Freeman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This will work great... right up until apple releases a firmware upgrade that intentionally breaks it.

    --
    -1 disagree is not a modifier for a reason. -1 troll, flaimbait, redundant, overrated are NOT acceptable substitutes.
  4. Re:It is a phone by khchung · · Score: 5, Insightful

    only Apple can get away with selling a 'smartphone without a phone'.

    I recall something that was called "PDA" which seems to qualify quite well as a "smartphone without a phone", and quite a few companies like Palm, HP has been quite successfully selling those before smartphone became popular.

    I know it is trendy with moderators to bash Apple here, but at least try to bash for things they are actually guilty of, ok?

    --
    Oliver.
  5. Right because the USA makes nothing by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Well except for CPUs. Every desktop CPU is designed in the US (both AMD and Intel are there) and a large number are made in US fabs. But that's it. Oh well and graphics cards, nVidia designs their cards in the US (AMD in Canada). And ICs like A/D converters (Texas Instruments designs in the US). And airplanes, one of the two remaining major airline designers/manufacturers is Boeing, who is in the US. And search engines, both Google and Bing are developed in the US...

    Getting the point? The US actually innovates a hell of a lot. You find a great many new, high tech, things are developed in the US, even if they aren't built there.

    This is NOT an example of Chinese innovation, it is an example of the opposite. Apple did the innovating, to the extent there was some. The developed the platform, the OS, the UI, all of that stuff. This just adds a cellphone radio to the iPod Touch. That isn't innovative, that is what an iPhone is. Not saying it may not be nice for people but innovative it is not. They just bought off the shelf GSM parts and wrote an app (probably using Apple's development tools) to modify another off the shelf device to act just like yet another off the shelf device. Neat? Perhaps (though if iPhones are too expensive just get something else, seriously there are plenty of other good, maybe even better, smartphones out there). Innovative? Not hardly.

    Seriously, this hate on the US's industry shows nothing but your own ignorance of the actual markets. Do some research, if you actually care, and you'll discover that the US designs (and actually builds too) a whole lot of high tech, state of the art, shit. You'll discover China does not. Usually when they make somethign high tech, it was designed elsewhere and many of the parts are made elsewhere too.

    Like say you buy a Denon receiver. Very high tech gadget with lots of nifty features. Unless you buy the high end ones, it is made in China (the high end ones are made in Japan). However all of them are designed in Japan, China only does the assembly per Denon's specs. Also the DSPs, the heart of their capabilities, are designed by Analog Devices (USA) and fabbed at either their US or Irish fab. Their converters are designed and made by AKM Semiconductor in Japan. Their room correction software is designed by Audyssey Labs in the USA. It's video processing system was designed by IDT (USA) and made by TSMC (Taiwan).

    So while the label may say "Made in China," all that means is they assembled the parts. All the "innovation" went on in other countries.

    Go research it, if you care, but please stop spouting off if you aren't willing to.