It didn’t take long to happen. The enterprising Chinese have produced a phone which looks remarkably like Apple’s iPhone. In a strange twist, however, it runs Windows Mobile 6.

Vr-zone reports that the M8 produced by a company called Meizu is smaller, potentially lighter and has a greater screen resolution that the iPhone. The M8 supports both standard GSM and the high-speed TD-SDMA standard too. Having done a small amount of research into this 3G standard it appears to be prevalent in China. Nokia, for example, are not part of the TD-SDMA forum, so it’s widespread use in Europe is questionable.

Make what you will of this new device. The iPod was heavily mimicked and clearly the iPhone is being too (even before it’s out!). Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

[Update] 30-01-2007

Having looked at the Meizu forums and used Google to translate the Chinese (it does a surprisingly good job) I’ve come to conclusion that the actual hardware is something that the forum poster says is in development. The software, however, I see as being a mockup. It’s fairly obvios to see that a lot of the icons are directs lifts of the iPhone interface. J. Wong’s fourth post which translates as “/UI Planning software” would seem to point this out. Interestingly the rest of the posts are mainly about people asking how much the device might cost. The engadget post entitled “Apple lawyers, start you engines” would seem to be something that would certainly come to fruition should Meizu progress down this road.

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