There’s no denying that the iPhone clones are considered a huge success. Consumers did not hesitate to embrace these Chinese imports because the features, performance, and pricing on these knock offs are too good to pass up for many consumers. And, in today’s economy, it just doesn’t make sense to pay full price on expensive items which will likely go out of style in a very short amount of time.
The shake and tilt models are among the most popular. That’s because consumers love being able to shake the phone to advance songs and media without having to fumble around and scroll. There are other things to like about these phones too, like the fact that they are always unlocked so that we can use whichever inexpensive carrier we wish, and the fact they are dual sim, which essentially allows us to have two separate phone numbers and plans on one phone. There are many of these shake to the music clones available now. Examples are the HiPhone i32, the CECT A380i, A88, and the A8+, to name the most popular.
This article will review the latest shake and tilt (that many people consider the best) – the SciPhone – (also sometimes called the 168 or the Y32.)
Popular Features: The 168 has all of the smartphone specifications that you would expect, including: a generous 3.2 inch touch screen; dual sim slots; slide unlock; a 1.3 mega pixel camera which also serves as a webcam; an e-book reader; Bluetooth 2.0; full MP3 / MP4 capabilities; web browsing, emailing and messaging via GPRS and WAP 2.0; Java 2.0; shake and tilt; and 2GB of memory.
Don’t let the smaller size of this knock off fool you. Its super fast and it houses a slew of the latest features inside a tiny package. I love the addition of the e-book reader because so many of us download reports or e-books and then never read them. This allows you to actually read those things when you have to wait in line or are delayed somewhere.
As we’ve come to expect from the Chinese clones, the speakers and sound system on this phone are crisp, loud, and clear. The 1.3 mega pixel camera takes surprisingly sharp photos.
Appearance: This model is smaller and thinner than previous models, which is why it’s sometimes called the “mini HiPhone.” In terms of appearance, this one looks almost identical to the HiPhone i32 which is a dead ringer for the iPhone, but if you hold these phones side by side you’ll see that the SciPhone is much thinner.
Functioning And Quality: This phone is very zippy and intuitive. This makes it very user friendly. I have not found any problems with it. It’s a solid little gadget that doesn’t feel cheap or lacking in any way.
Pricing: Right now, this phone starts at about $150. I don’t think that’s a bad price when you consider most of the older clones are in the $100 range and you’d expect to pay a bit more for the newest, sleekest features.
The BlackBerry has been favored over other smartphones for corporate use for a number of reasons. However, in today’s workplace, enterprises are adopting iPhones at a rapid pace, because of a push by employees who want to use them in both their personal and professional life.
Yes, there will always be great debate over which mobile device is superior from a usability standpoint. But when it comes to security, which device is best suited for the enterprise?
Mobile device comparison
BlackBerry?:
Robust management ecosystem: The significant differentiator in security is the management flexibility that the BlackBerry provides. The BlackBerry Enterprise Server? provides rich controls that allow scalable management for thousands of users. Application policies: Administrators can define precise policies to control which applications can be downloaded to and run on the device. The security model allows administrators to translate and enforce acceptable use policies. Transport security: The BlackBerry uses a secure and encrypted connection back to the enterprise that enables it to access corporate resources. This transparent VPN connection allows accessibility without exposing resources to the cloud. Device/data encryption software security: The BlackBerry has robust encryption and data protection built in. Policies can be centrally defined. This ensures web traffic passes through scanning proxies and the device itself is kept very secure with very strong data encryption. Remote wipe/restore: If a device is lost it can be remotely disabled and the data removed very quickly. Moreover, new devices can be provisioned with a complete copy of the original data, policies and applications. Research in Motion (RIM) provides the right tools for secure mobile computing – they just need to be configured. In particular, take advantage of the device’s configuration capabilities to lock down the methods by which software can be installed. The recent spyware distributed by Etisala is an example of increasing focus on mobile devices. RIM produced a whitepaper paper that thoroughly explains how to lock down the device to control applications and prevent such threats.
iPhone(TM):
Lack of computer policies: Unlike the BlackBerry, the iPhone does not have rich central management. A simple portal is provided to allow device location (using the built-in GPS) and remote wipe, which works reasonably well, compared to earlier versions that took many hours to remove the the vulnerabilities. Unfortunately, there are no controls over allowed applications, configuration or security. Users must set up their own configuration (and they make it very easy) but this doesn’t mean that secure protocols are necessarily used. Too much user privilege: The iPhone essentially provides all users with administrator capabilities. They can install any applications or change any of the configurations. While this delivers user satisfaction, it is a security nightmare. This pushes the security policy on to the user with a severe dependence on education. Exposure to cloud: While BlackBerry provides seamless and secure access to corporate resources within the perimeter, the iPhone requires exposure to the internet. Smaller businesses, or those embracing cloud exposed mail systems or corporate resources, will find the device easy to configure. Those with internal systems with controlled exposure may find the iPhone requires them to break their data protection security model or to have users VPN in to access resources. This can degrade the usability of the solution but is key to avoid exposing sensitive data in a cloud where the security model is still not yet broadly defined.
Where does one find the best iPhone sale? You can simply shop your normal brick and mortar stores and find a brand spanking new iPhone or you can go online and shop directly from the official Apple iPhone(TM) store, Walmart, Target and many other online and brick and mortar stores. But, will you get the best deal?
Let me give you a quick run down on why the iPhone is becoming the technical gadget to own.
The iPhone for one thing is a sleek and tiny hand-held computer whose screen is a beautiful touch sensitive piece of work. The high end models have any where from 4 to 8 gigs of storage and can hold about 800 to 1800 songs. Plus, it includes a cellphone, video(iPod), email terminal, web browser, camera, alarm clock, a Palm type organizer and of course, right now it is one heck of a status symbol.
The biggest draw to the iPhone is it’s software. It’s fast, beautiful, menu free and really very simple to operate. The lists scroll with a flick of a finger and is just much more fun to use, which is something that cannot be said about most cellphones.
Okay, but finding a good iPhone sale is going to be a little time consuming. You search the newspaper ads, online stores and such but can’t seem to find the right one on sale for the price that you are willing to pay. You just know that you have got to get one quickly for your nagging daughter or wife…
LOL. Or just maybe looking to get one for yourself. Plus, you keep hearing about being able to unlock the iPhone and want to find one that is for sale. But, finding an unlocked iPhone on sale can be a little complicated. Think you can find one in the stores? I seriously doubt it.
There are some places where you can find exactly what you need. All the new and used iPhones, unlocked, unlocking software, accessories and more. You just have to really look to find the right iPhone sale.
Keep digging and you can find just the right one you need at the best possible price.
The release of the Apple iPhone has been met with a lot of enthusiasm, but while a lot of people have charged right in to get their iPhones, there are plenty of folks who have been holding back until they get the real story on this nifty new gadget. Well here’s what you’ve been waiting for – a list of the pros and cons of the iPhone, so that you can make up your mind on your own without paying heed to the hype out there.
So here’s a semicomprehensive list of all the things that are right about it, and the few things that could be done better. In no way do I guarantee that this is a complete list, it’s just a good selection of “goods” and “bads” that’ll give you an idea of what you’d be getting into by getting an iPhone.
The Good -
The iPhone comes in two models: a version with 6GB of storage capacity and one with 8GB. This is good or bad depending on how you look at it. 6-8GB is by no means a small amount of storage space, but I can see how users of an 80GB iPod can look down their noses at a “measly” 8GB. I’m still gonna chalk this up as a “pro.” The overall design is sleek and beautiful as it is innovative. Almost the entire unit is a large touch-screen, very complex and very sensitive. The tactile sensors across the surface of the screen respond to your touch to push buttons, move sliders, scroll through windows, and do any number of other actions. Since the entire interface is digital, new software updates could make just about anything possible for the iPhone. The camera function for the iPhone is just amazing. It shames other cameraphones, and rivals even some of the digital camera units out there. Picture quality is pristine in good lighting conditions, and doesn’t even suffer much when the light dims. Gets a little fuzzier, but it’s still remarkable. The iPhone possesses a fully-functional connection to the Internet via either the EDGE service or any WiFi connection. This isn’t a “watered-down” Web either, you can access almost anything. There are even sites being built exclusively for iPhone that you can’t view on your computer. The interface, touched on before, has been designed for utmost ease and flow…animations are smooth and interesting, and everything is easily accessible.
The Bad -
Considering how brand-new the iPhone is, there are still a lot of bugs and software errors to be worked out. There have been complaints about portions of the screen simply ceasing to function, as well as simple system crashes when running too many complex features. Probably the biggest problem is the price. The unit itself costing either $500 or $600 depending on the model, the iPhone isn’t friendly on your wallet. The phone service is done exclusively through AT&T, who isn’t exactly cheap. I haven’t used them myself, so I don’t know how reliable their service is, but it’s pretty common knowledge that leaving some money in your pocket is NOT their biggest priority. iTunes is another of the big moneydrainers…with audio downloads costing almost a dollar per song, the folks at Apple are happily rolling in your money. Aside from the above, the main limits are that you can only use the phone service in the US (so far it’s the only place the iPhone has been released), and that the battery isn’t customer-replaceable; you have to send it in to be replaced when it goes dead, and I believe it costs $80 or somewhere around there.
So there’s a basic idea of the iPhone’s pros and cons. Now you should have the basic info you need to make your choice as to whether or not you want to buy one for yourself.
I’ve been getting a lot of emails about this phone. People want to know if the quality is good, if it functions as well as the authentic, Apple 3G iPhone, and whether it is worth the extra money (since it’s a little more expensive than most of the clones.) In an attempt to answer most of the concerns and questions that I get, I’m going to review the Chinese version of the iPhone 3GS in the following article.
To Be Clear, I’m Reviewing The Chinese Version Of The iPhone 3GS That Includes The New Chip, The Compass, And WiFi: After taking a quick glance at some of websites selling different versions of this phone, it’s clear that some models that are calling themselves a Chinese 3GS are better and different than others. Some of them lack WiFi so please note that this review does not cover those. For the purposes of this article, I am going to be talking about the higher end models that include WiFi, have the newer, faster chip, include the compass, and accommodate 32GB of memory. If this is the phone that you want, you should stick with trusted sellers since not everyone is selling the phone that I am talking about here.
Upgrades On The New China Version Of The 3GS: Perhaps the biggest upgrades to this model are the new, faster chip which makes the phone more responsive and quick and the addition of WiFi availability. This one also accommodates more memory (32GB) and has a new higher mega pixel camera and web cam. It also includes 6 pages of icons, offers free web TV and web radio, and has an enhanced, larger 3.5 inch touch screen. This model also includes Google maps. It also offers side – sliding to flip through the pages and is a high quality quad band.
Performance On The Chinese iClone 3GS: To be fair, I am usually a big proponent of these clones. I typically don’t have any qualms about using a phone that is not the original. I am typically more interested in the features and performance rather than the logo, so I suppose that I’m the target consumer that the clone manufacturers are after. With that said, I believe that this model will make even the most skeptical consumers pretty happy. This phone accomplishes most every task that you can perform on the Apple model. It also offers the availability of dual sim slots which offers you some bonus flexibility in how you use the phone and in how you save money.
Overall this phone feels and performs quite solidly. It doesn’t feel cheap or flimsy. The colors are bright and the resolution is crisp. It’s quick and responsive and also has the “shake and tilt” feature so that it will always turn itself to correspond with the way that you are holding it. The.3 additional inches of screen might not seem like a lot of real estate, but it makes web browsing on this one a nice experience as does the speed of the WiFi.
Cost Savings: Let’s be honest. Most people have some interest in these phones because they want to save money. This phone accomplishes that goal. Not only is the clone much less expensive in terms of the price tag to buy one, but most of us realize that the original model comes with a mandated contract. Buying a clone means that you are free from this. You don’t have to pay over $120 per month from AT&T for decent service if you don’t want to. You can use any GSM card world wide (including contract and pay as you go) without making any commitment.
Overall, I’m impressed by this phone. Granted, I’m predisposed to liking the clones. But this is a particularly good one since it covers pretty much all of the features that you could possibly want and it does it all at a pretty high level.
So you’ve gotten your very own Apple iPhone, right? You’ve added all your important contacts, surfed the net on it, and even bought a few of your favorite songs from iTunes. With iTunes, you have access to a modestly sized collection of music and video downloads, and you have to pay per download. What if you want to build up collection of movies? Or maybe you want to catch up on the latest season of Lost or Prison Break? The cost per iPhone download for each episode can really start to add up!
There’s good news for Apple users like us though! Many programs exist that actually offer unlimited iPhone downloads. For a one time fee, you get access to over 100 million movies, music, TV shows, sports, games and programs. It’s overwhelming to say the least, and the list grows bigger and bigger with new files added daily.
These programs were designed specifically with the iPhone in mind and will allow you to safely download and transfer various media to your phone.
I tried several different iPhone download programs until I found one that I was happy with. Out of all the programs I used, my personal favorite was iPhone Magic. It was by far the easiest program to use, and even my 9-year old daughter figured out how to find her favorite kids show with it.
I was also impressed at how fast I was up and running from the checkout, to downloading movies and games. Once I purchased a copy, I immediately received the download link and installed it. After that it was just a matter of choosing which movies, TV shows, and music I wanted to download.
A great bonus is the DVD-to-Phone software that’s included with iPhone Magic. I actually converted and transferred a few home movies I had on DVD. It’s a really nice feature.
Overall, out of all the programs I tried, I give iPhone Magic high praise because it is so simple to use, has a huge selection of media to choose from, and the downloads are extremely fast! The no questions asked money back guarantee sealed the deal for me. If you own one of these great phones, then you have to have a copy of this iPhone download program.
iPhone is, beyond all doubt, one of the coolest looking phones around. However, what’s the harm in making it look even cooler using some great accessories? It will not only add functionalities to your iPhone, but will also make it look unique. Here are some iPhone accessories that no self-respecting iPhone user would want to be caught dead without:
1.Carrying case with matching belt buckle: iPhones come with their own carrying cases, but there is certainly no harm in getting a customized case for carrying your iPhone. Get one in a color of your choice. If you want extra protection for your iPhone, get a case made of silicone-coated rubber, which will provide ample protection against physical impacts. Add a belt buckle in a matching color with it, to carry your iPhone around securely, and in style.
2.Screen protector: Granted, the iPhone LCD screen does resist scratches to some extent. However, adding a screen cover is a must if you want complete peace of mind.
3.Bluetooth speakers with visor clip – An iPhone will let you carry around a lot of music files. So having a pair of these is mandatory if you want to listen to all those tracks without earphones. The visor clip allows you to attach the speakers with your cap or helmet, allowing you to listen to your favorite tracks while driving.
4.External battery: These are more a necessity than luxury. What would happen if your iPhone suddenly ran out of juice in the middle of a teleconference? Or what if your battery suddenly goes on the blink in the middle of nowhere, when you are out on a road trip? Keep an external battery with you in order to deal with these potentially dangerous, not to mention embarrassing situations.
5.Metal skin sticker: Now you get to customize the look of your iPhone just the way you want. Simply get one of these in a theme that you absolutely adore.
6.Universal stylus: Don’t you just hate the fingerprints left on the touch screen of your iPhone when you have operated it for some time? Sure, you can wipe the screen clean every time, but that would be quite a hassle, wouldn’t it? Why not go for a stylus, so that you can type as much as you like while keeping the screen free from all those unwanted spots and fingerprints? Go for a stylus made of durable plastic with a soft ball point tip, and you will be able to use it for a long time.
These 6 accessories are a must for iPhone owners who love to improve the functionality of their iPhones, while making it look cool at the same time.
The other day, someone sent me an email wanting to know the specifics about the CECT KA08 mobile phone, which is sometimes called the mini iPhone. This is one of the newer, smaller, lighter, and sleeker phones from CECT (the company that makes most of the iPhone clones). I will go over some of the notable features of this phone in the following article.
The CECT KA08 Is One Of The Few Mini iPhone Clones With Talking Text: This mobile phone is a like a lot of the other clones in that it is dual sim, covers all four bands (is quad band), has the shake and tilt feature (you can forward or change songs by shaking it), and has all of the standard capabilities including web browsing, MP3 / MP4, Bluetooth, web cam, digital camera, FM radio, etc.
One thing that this phone has which a lot of the others don’t is the talking text feature. This means that the phone will read your text messages or SMS texts for you. You can program it to read to you in the language that you speak. It has about 3,000 words for many languages.
A Phone Of Many Colors That Comes In A Much Smaller Package: The other two prevalent things that most people think of when they picture this phone is it’s much smaller size and it’s availability of colors. (That’s why it’s called a “mini” of course.) Specifically, it weighs in at about 65 grams. Compare that with the 110 grams of the original iPhone clones and the 90 grams of the sleeker clones like the i9. To put it into terms that are easy to picture, if you place this phone side by side to a credit card, there isn’t a whole lot of difference in terms of length – although it is a bit thicker and wider than the card, of course.
Another prevalent feature of this phone is all of the colors that are available. People sometimes tell me that they think these are skins or housing that has been replaced. They aren’t. This phone is manufactured in many colors like pink, blue, yellow, green, red, white, black, and I’ve even seen then in orange. I’ve also seen them in metallics like silvers and golds.
Lots Of Memory And Features For Not Much Money: Just because this phone is small doesn’t mean that it’s lacking in memory or features. It can hold up to 8GB of memory and possesses almost everything that you might need in a phone. You can almost always find one for under $100 these days and no contract is required. (Thanks to the fact that you can use any GSM sim.) The accessories for it are also easy to find and pretty inexpensive too. You can change the battery yourself and can usually get by quite nicely with web, text, and talk for around $20 per month.
A few weeks ago a good friend of mine, who was searching for an iPhone program to download movies, asked me; “is iPhone Magic a Scam?” In this article I intend to tell you exactly what iPhone Magic is and how it will grant you access to unlimited downloads.
There are many download programs available on the net, but iPhone Magic is by far the best one in my opinion. What makes this program so great? Well for me, I find that it’s the fastest way to find and download my favorite movies, TV shows, music, sports, and video games.
I used to use iTunes, but the problem is that you have to pay for each download. The cost of downloading the latest seasons of my favorite shows was just starting to add up! I figured that there must be a better way to go about downloading media for my phone. That’s when I did some research and got my hands on as many iPhone download programs I could.
Since I love my Apple products and I use my phone to watch movies and TV during my commute to work each day, I knew that I needed to find a download program that was reliable, easy to use, had a great selection, and most importantly, FAST downloads.
After trying out several iPhone programs, iPhone Magic stood out to me as the clear winner, not only in all the categories listed above, but also because of their awesome tech support and their no questions asked money back guarantee.
iPhone Magic has made my life so much simpler, and I can literally find any TV show and movie that I’m interested in. It will also do all the converting and quickly transfer each file over to my phone.
I recommend this program to the absolute beginner, and even to the most tech savvy person out there. iPhone Magic simply rocks!
I have several blogs that discuss some of the features and specs of the dual sim, import iPhone clones. Recently, I’ve begun getting a lot of requests for information about the “i9 iPhone.” The question refers to the CECT i9, which is a clone or knock off from the Chinese manufacturer who first introduced the extremely popular original iClone P168. This is actually an upgraded, newer model that improves upon that original. I’ll explain how in this article.
Moving From Tri Band To Quad Band: The early clones were tri bands that worked on most GSM networks. This allowed coverage for most, but not all, consumers worldwide. Later, the P168+ Plus came out that added the last 850 MHZ band, making for a quad band. The i9 is an upgrade of this model, so it covers nearly all GSM networks that use a sim card.
Adding Java: One common complaint of the original iPhone clones was that you couldn’t download additional games, applications or software. The i9 is one of the first clones to include Java 2.0 so this is no longer a problem. This phone allows for Outlook, Word, Excel, etc. There’s also tons of gaming possibilities as well.
Dual Sim Active: The older clones did have dual sim slots which allowed you to have two plans or phone numbers. Many people use this to have a talk or unlimited minute plan on one sim and a data plan on another, without being bound to a contract. However, with the old clones, you had to switch back and forth between them. This isn’t so with the i9 as both can be online at once.
Shake And Tilt: The original P168 did not have shake control or the ability to change the music and video by just shaking the phone. This feature debuted and were very successful on models like the HiPhone and the A88. The i 9 includes this feature, which most people tend to like, although some don’t see the need for it.
Up To 8GB Of Memory (Much More Than The Original): The original clones could expand to old up to 2GB. This was and still is sufficient, but for those who feel they need more memory and / or speed, this new one can hold up to 8.
Smaller And Sleeker: Many people have told me that they’d love an iPhone or one of it’s clone, but they have found the phone too large, bulky, and heavy. The new “mini” category helped answer this complaint. The 9 is in this category as it weighs only 95 grams and is also skinnier and shorter than the originals.
Nothing has been taken away from the original. This upgrade still allows for WAP web browsing, email and texting, SMS, MMS, Bluetooth, web cam, digital camera, MP3 / MP4, and FM radio, all without a contract. The quality of these phones may surprise you. The speakers are particularly good.
And, the price is still attractive. This model, even with it’s upgrades, still falls in the $100 range, with the 8GB models being a bit more.