Yesterday a friend came over to my place and I noticed he was carrying a phone that looked vaguely familiar, but I can't pinpoint which specific model it was. So I asked him what is it, and he said "Oh, it's a brandless phone that I bought in Shanghai for $200".
Now, my friend is pretty well-to-do so he can pretty much buy any phone he wants. He's not really a tech-leader so he only buys what works for him. So, I asked him why in the world he would buy a $200 made-in-China-for-the-Chinese-brandless phone. He said he couldn't find anything outside of China that can run 2 SIM cards at once.
2 SIM cards together in the same phone, and switching in between them with just a click? Wow! I'm impressed. I haven't come across something like that either.
I tool a closer look.
The front
The back (is that really a 3MP camera or maybe they just decided "3" looked better than "1")
The phone turned on
Beside an E61i for size comparison
So what's so great about this thing? A few things struck me.
1) It can house 2 SIM cards and can switch between them with one click seamlessly. I'm sure there are many people out there who need this feature.
2) It is a TV! I find this to be quite hilarious. When he turned on the TV, I laughed uncontrollably. And when he transformed the stylus into an antenna, I fell over.
I'll show you some antenna pics first, which I'm totally bowled over by. I mean, it's not only functional and practical, it's hilarious! If you've spent any time in China, you'll see it reflects their culture. They invent things out of necessity. As long as there is enough demand, they will make it and sell it.
Harmless, normal looking stylus
Kaboom! It becomes a TV antenna cum mini pointer!
Transformation complete and ready for receiving TV signals
Here's a video of the TV in action:
3) The speakers on this thing is amazing! Best I've heard on a mobile phone. Important for TV watching I suppose
4) It runs some kind of Symbian OS and has touchscreen.
5) It receives and sends MMS's, unlike the iPhone.
6) The screen is big and bright
I didn't play with it much but I already love it. It was stable and easy to understand and use. Battery life is very good according to my friend (as expected of it's size). A newer version that receives digital TV is already out.
If this is a preview of Chinese-designed phones, we'll be seeing many interesting devices yet.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Made in China, for the Chinese, or is it?
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11 comments:
Simply wow, that's awesome.
Does this TV phone work in Australia?
It works anywhere in the world where there is free to air TV signals. That means yes, from Australia to Zimbagbwe.
This phone is a godsent for those who take public buses to work!
Anyway chickenbackside, your website is simply a treasure chest full of good and informative reviews. You've just convinced me to get a N82 once it is released.
Thank you and keep up the good 'work'!!
Yeah. You can use it for some entertainment almost anywhere. It's really a wonder why mainstream phone makers don't pursue this idea.
Anyway, thanks for you kind words. I hope you have as much fun reading as I did writing.
hmm.. it looks like CECT phone.
i'm quite sure it's another CECT clone, because there's so many CECT clone phones available here.
Andry:
Yes it is. But you can't walk into a mainstream shop and buy one. You can find some at Sim Lim Tower in some small shops, but I wouldn't call that customer support.
hi,
just curious - when you are using one of the sim cards, what happens when someone calls you on the other card. does it go to voicemail?
cw
In recent years, Chinese industry that has been well known for make low-budget and low-quality imitations of different products is improving the quality of them at the same low prices we have known. Buy Viagra Viagra
He said he couldn't find anything outside of China that can run 2 SIM cards at once.
I hope you have a nice day! Very good article, well written and very thought out. I am looking forward to reading more of your posts in the future.
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