May 22

Imobile phoneV588 makes calls, could hold your foundation

Posted in: chinese, Today's Chili

Not that we haven’t seen compact-themed cellphones before, but we’d argue that the Imobile phoneV588 is about as suggestive as it gets. This dual-band GSM “handset” looks more like the next big thing from Cover Girl than your next mobile, with a circular form factor, pop-up lid, a built-in mirror and a design that would’ve totally worked in Princess Diaries. If you’re curious about hard specs, you’ll find a 2.6-inch LCD, an integrated MP3 / MP4 player, speakers and USB connectivity. Oh, and your guess is as good as ours on the whole “dialing / texting” aspect. Freshen up your social life for just $119.99.

[Via PMP Today]

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Imobile phoneV588 makes calls, could hold your foundation originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 May 2009 03:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 20

RAmos RM990 iOne2 PMP looks surprisingly desirable

Posted in: chinese, media player, MediaPlayer, PMP, Today's Chili

RAmos definitely isn’t the most respected name in PMPs here in the US, but as of late, it’s done a commendable job of staying relevant… at least on the design front, anyway. The firm’s latest concoction, which goes by RM990 iOne2, is a touchscreen-heavy media player that’s clearly not anorexic. Specs wise, we’re told that it features a 3-inch WQVGA touch panel, haptic feedback, a built-in accelerometer, 4GB of internal storage and support for a whole gaggle of file formats. Not bad for the low, low asking price of just 399 yuan (around $58), but it’s hardly worth a trip to Shanghai.

[Via PMPToday]

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RAmos RM990 iOne2 PMP looks surprisingly desirable originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 14

Dell to launch smartphones in China by end of year

Posted in: chinese, phone, smartphone, Today's Chili

After having its prototypes rejected a few times over by carriers here in America, it seems that Michael Dell is taking his smartphone initiative overseas. ‘Course, he’ll need something mighty special to outshine Lenovo’s OPhone over in China, but we digress. Hot on the heels of rumors galore, Reuters is reporting that Dell is indeed aiming to launch multiple smartphones in the Chinese market before the dawn of 2010. A pair of analysts have asserted that the firm is working with Chi Mei Communications — an unlisted unit of Taiwan’s Hon Hai — on the hardware front, while China-based Red Office is engineering the operating system. Not surprisingly, spokespeople from these outfits are all remaining mum for the moment, but we are told that the US and Europe are on Dell’s list of next-up launch markets assuming the China rollout goes well.

[Via MobileBurn]

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Dell to launch smartphones in China by end of year originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 02

GAME-800 all-in-one handheld tries out a new control scheme

Posted in: chinese, PMP, Retro, Today's Chili

We’ll hand it to whatever Chinese company conjured up the GAME-800 — there’s at least a smidgen of ingenuity here. Granted, we suspect it’s all for the worse, but we digress. The GAME-800 all-in-one handheld does just about everything save for make calls; we’re talking an MP5 (seriously) player, text and photo viewer, camera, NES / GBA emulator and even support for video playback. Internally, you’ll spot 4GB of storage, which complements the integrated SD expansion slot nicely. There’s also a TV output, 3.5-inch QVGA display, twin 3.5 millimeter headphone jacks and USB 2.0 connectivity. We might say it was actually worth he $69.99 asking price if not for our befuddlement relating to those awkwardly sorted directional arrows, but until we see support for an external game pad, we’ll pass.

[Via technabob]

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GAME-800 all-in-one handheld tries out a new control scheme originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 07:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 27

Gemei offers up 4.3-inch HD-660 PMP

Posted in: 720p, chinese, PMP, Today's Chili

It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard a good word from the folks at Gemei, but clearly, there was no resolution made upon the Chinese New Year that they’d stick to originality and stop ripping ideas from other PMP mainstays. Oh sure, the HD-660 isn’t exactly like anything else we’ve seen, but we’d wager that the designers at Archos would disagree. At any rate, those in China can now find this 4.3-inch PMP for sale, packing a 480 x 272 resolution display, 32GB of internal memory, support for a smorgasbord of file formats, and a bundled remote and TV output cable. No word on pricing, but it’ll probably sit nicely between “cheap” and “reasonably affordable.”

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Gemei offers up 4.3-inch HD-660 PMP originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 22

China’s Chery Automobile produces its first plug-in electric car

Posted in: chinese, electric vehicle, ElectricVehicle, ev, Today's Chili

Clean automobiles are starting to hit the streets of China, and just a few short months after BYD rolled its first plug-in hybrid out of the factory, Chery Automobile has followed suit… sort of, anyway. Unlike BYD’s alternative, the just announced S18 is purely electric, promising up to 150 kilometers on a single charge and a maximum speed of 120kph (around 72mph). The battery can be juiced from empty to full in around six hours using a standard 220-volt home outlet, while it can reach 80 percent capacity within just a half hour. Yuan Tao, vice president of Chery, confessed that the price would be “very suitable for families,” though he held back from giving specifics — you know, like an availability date, or a definite quantity of airbags.

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China’s Chery Automobile produces its first plug-in electric car originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 22:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 18

Meizu M8 defies the odds and officially goes on sale – again

Posted in: awesome, chinese, kirf, now available, NowAvailable, on sale, OnSale, Today's Chili

Word on the street has it that the Meizu’s M8 — that vaporous iPhone killer from the east — is now officially on sale, as of February 18. For real. Wait, you ask — wasn’t it available last week sometime? Well, yes and no. Apparently, the unit we’ve seen making the rounds was a beta version — if you slapped down your $440-ish dollars on that one, you got something with “a fair amount of problems to be ironed out,” according to DAP Review. The site, whose Chinese-to-English translator is apparently functioning better than ours, goes on to point out that while the test units had WiFi enabled, the final production version does not. A strange decision, sure, but this is a tale fraught with strange decisions. And danger. And excitement and glamor. By the way — we just hit up the official Meizu site, and the 16GB version of this device is “out of stock” — probably due to the rapturous reception the unit’s received all over the world.

[Via DAP Review; Thanks, Michael]

Continue reading Meizu M8 defies the odds and officially goes on sale – again

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Meizu M8 defies the odds and officially goes on sale – again originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Feb 2009 12:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 14

Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXXIII: WebXpress just a “Music” and “5800” shy of greatness

Posted in: chinese, kirf, Today's Chili

Here lately, we’ve been pretty impressed with just how awesome some of these Chinese knockoffs have been. In fact, we were beginning to wonder if the bona fide manufacturers weren’t in cahoots with some of these low-class acts. Thanks to China Grabber, we’re being reacquainted with the garbage that we once knew and loved, as the WebXpress handset is about as pathetic a rip of the 5800 XpressMusic as you could ever hope to see. Reportedly, it’s packing a 3-inch QVGA LCD, quad-band GSM radio, dual SIM slots, a 1.3 megapixel camera, video recorder, e-book reader and even some form of “health management” software. For $149.99, we’re almost tempted to order one just to see about the latter. Almost.

[Via PMPToday]

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXXIII: WebXpress just a “Music” and “5800” shy of greatness originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 09

APSI’s WinCE-based M480 can’t quite reach Archos’ level

Posted in: archos, chinese, PMP, Today's Chili

We can’t really knock the folks at APSI for trying to make the M480 into a product it’s not, but in all seriousness, this thing is just two curved edges away from KIRFing the Archos 5. That said, there’s no doubt this piece is trying to get all up in Archos’ grille, with an expansive 4.8-inch 800 x 480 touchscreen, 30GB / 60GB of internal storage, a TV output, dual-core 400MHz OMAP2530 processor and a battery good for six to seven hours (with audio) / four to five hours (with video). There’s even support for a multitude of file formats, but the lackluster Windows CE 5.0 operating system essentially murders any chance it had at being successful. Sorry, buddy — better luck next time.

[Via PMPToday]

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APSI’s WinCE-based M480 can’t quite reach Archos’ level originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Feb 08

Meizu M8 on sale for $440: buy at your own risk

Posted in: chinese, now available, NowAvailable, on sale, OnSale, Today's Chili

We don’t have to caution those familiar with the name “Meizu” that this may not be what it seems, but we’ll do it anyway for those new to the field. The outfit’s long, long, long awaited M8 appears to be on sale now for anyone with $439.99 and a remote desire to own one. However, we have seen this thing “on sale” before, but outside of a few anomalous reviews, we haven’t actually seen it ship to anyone in the US. In all honesty, we’d love nothing more than for this to be the real deal, but we’ve a sneaking suspicion that no one with half a brain is going to pull the trigger and pray for arrival. Though, the idea of surfing on top of one’s handset is surprisingly enticing, wouldn’t you agree?

[Thanks, Lance]

Continue reading Meizu M8 on sale for $440: buy at your own risk

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Meizu M8 on sale for $440: buy at your own risk originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 12:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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