NO it's NOT an iPhone!

Recently, while on a search for my home grown netbook article, I stumbled across a company producing ultra cheap smart phone. One even looks identical to the iPhone. Apparently there are a broad range of cheap knock-off iPhones out there. But this one company is actively innovating. The SciPhone i68 (pictured at left) was not impressive. It merely looks like an iPhone. But the i68+ v4a released late last year is considerably more impressive. First off, it's unlocked. You can use it with any service in the world that uses GSM technology. Next, according to the uTube videos I've seen, this thing has some of the same touch capabilities of the real iPhone. Without Apple's appstore that is. Here's a short feature list from the SciPhone site:

Features

• Installed java games with jar package;
• Slide to unlock;
• FM radio;
• Supports MMS/GPRS;
• .E-book,64 phonix ring tone;
• Special input interface, enlarge the letter when click virtual keypad;
• 3.2 inch ultra-definition flat touch screen;
• Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 GSM Worldwide coverage
• High-Res TFT display, 260K colors, 240x320 pixel resolution
• Touch Screen
• Exclusive user interface, themes and styles
• 3.2 inch LCD plus 3.2 inch touch screen

These phones do not run Apple's iPhone OS. Rather a heavily modified Nucleus RTOS. One company has actually built an entire business model around providing updates to the OS. Javquisoft provides firmware updates for the SciPhone and it's clones. Thats right, the SciPhone has become so popular that other companies are actually cloning it. So the iPhone clone has a clone. Actually, a bunch of them.

While looking around for more info regarding the SciPhone i68+, I discovered several other phones the company has ripped off. They produced the Dream G2 which claims to run Android. In fact it also runs a slick version of Nucleus RTOS made to look like android.

SciPhone may actually begin innovating tho. They are working on something called the SciPhone N12. This phone, based on Marvell's Monahan processor, will run a genuine copy of Android. The spec sheet looks pretty good. From the SciPhone N12 page:

SciPhone N12 Smart Phone with Google

• Processor: Marvell's Monahan (624MHz) + Qualcomm MSM6246
• Operating system: Android/ Windows Mobile
• Dimensions: 117*58*12.7
• Mode: UMTS-2100MHz, GSM-900/1800/1900 MHz
• Bearer: GSM, 3G(WCDMA)
• Display: WQVGA 240*400 pixels, 3.2 inch TFT 262K
• Main camera: 3.2M pixel
• Secondary Camera: 0.1M pixel
• Storage: ROM-256MB+64MB, RAM-256MB+64MB
• Extended Storage: Micro SD, up to 16GB
• USB: USB 2.0 high speed
• Bluetooth: Ver 2.0
• GPS: Yes
• WiFi: IEEE 802.11b/11g
• TV: CMMB
• Battery capacity: 1000mAh
• Standby time(GSM): Up to 220 hours
• Voice talk time(2G): Up to 170 minutes

The Prototypes are expected May 25, 2009 with the production model expected to ship June 25, 2009. Looking over this translation of the original Chinese news page. The N12 will support WCDMA and all international GSM frequencies. Those of us using a CDMA network, such as Verizon, will still be left out of the mix.

The big question is cost. The other knock-offs from this company retail for under $150 and wholesale for under $90. Can the N12 be price competitive with these other phones or will it wind up in the iPhone and Blackberry price range. The above referenced site claims the N12 will retail for around RMB1600or about $235. I used this site to convert into US Dollars.

I would certainly like to see this phone in action. With a full retail price under $250 I believe it could seriously compete in the US market. With this new business model, SciPhone may just become the next household name. The already powerful 624 MHz processor is also available all the way up to 1.2 GHz. Although the faster the chip, the more power it uses. Emerging battery technologies could just propel SciPhone to the top of the OEM phone market. Now thats a coming of age story. SciPhone started out in the Chinese black market cloning popular phones. Now they may just make it into the big time.