We’ve barely had time to digest the fact that real, actual, honest-to-goodness Meizu M8s are now available at the odd retail outlet around the globe, and Meizu’s famously colorful CEO is already spouting off about a successor. Talk about a buzzkill, eh? Jack Wong made an off-the-cuff remark in a forum post today about the M9 in two flavors — M9c for CDMA networks and M9t for China’s 3G TD-SCDMA networks — but beyond that, he’s said nothing about specs or availability. Odds are, we can expect a good 18-24 months of teasers, missed launches, and brushes with vaporware status before either model actually launches, so if you had your heart set on an M8, seriously, don’t feel bad about taking the plunge.

[Via Meizu Me]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Meizu looking to CDMA and China-centric 3G with M8 successor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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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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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 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]

Filed under: Cellphones

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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The Meizu M8 has been caught on camera plenty of times before, but we can’t recall seeing an English-language version until now. One tester at MP4 Nation has managed to get some hands-on time with the unabashed iPhone doppelganger, and calls the audio and video playback quality a disappointment, especially given the powerful Samsung ARM CPU inside. As he eloquently puts it, “cheap MP4 players can do a better job.” Ouch. Video resizing also seems to be poorly implemented, cutting off the edges when it doesn’t match the 3:2 aspect ratio. It’s not all bad, though, as the photo viewer and phone book has been aptly copied from Apple’s flagship mobile, including multi-touch zoom, and the Windows CE-masking GUI is fluid. More videos of the M8 are promised, but in the meantime, check out volume one after the break.

Continue reading Meizu M8 gets English-language video review

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Meizu M8 gets English-language video review originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meizu’s been on a tear since our last M8 update. Sitting atop a new 0.9.0.1 firmware release complete with working copy and paste, Outlook calendar synchronization, and a “full backup system,” the M8 is now supported by a published SDK and licensed to ride the Chinese airwaves for what looks to be a March, mainland China release. With all the passion it could muster, Meizu posted the following announcement to its English website:

Let’s bear witness together, to the great moment of MEIZU formally entering the big stage of mobile phone industry!

Currently, the M8 handset with its iPhone roots (but a WinCE core) is only available to an abiding Chinese press and die-hard Meizu fanatics — a population said to rival the intensity of Apple’s own sheeple elite. Having watched the M8 make the transition from art to part over the last few years, we’re mighty stoked at the prospective launch to say the least. And while Meizu has clearly trumped Apple’s spec sheet (not user experience) in terms of software (copy paste, background task management, video recording, and plenty more) and hardware (720 x 480 pixel display and beefier silicon), we’ll bet there’s still enough “inspiration” to get Tim Cook and Apple’s legal counsel whipped up into a frenzy of Intellectual Property defense. Latest video after the break.

Read — Mobile license approval
Read — SDK release
Read — firmware 0.9 release

Continue reading Video: Meizu M8 prepped for full-scale launch, IP battle with Apple

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Video: Meizu M8 prepped for full-scale launch, IP battle with Apple originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 03:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re going to go to the trouble of procuring an M8 from Meizu, you may as well turn it into an authentic, memorable, world-class experience by making the pilgrimage to Shenzhen, China to pick it up in its hometown. Oh, but don’t just pick it up from some random street vendor — do it up right by swinging on over to Meizu’s shiny new flagship store, where you’ll be able to select your M8 (or at least see renders of the M8) in a comfortable, relaxed environment while rubbing shoulders with Meizu employees. The fresh digs just opened today, and pictures from the grand opening show an epic mass of humanity waiting for the doors to unlock — a promising sign for Meizu, and an unfortunate sign that the enochlophobes among us probably ought to wait a few weeks to make the trek.

[Via Meizu Me]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Meizu opens flagship store in Shenzhen originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 23:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After what feels like centuries of waiting (and suffering through that painful CeBIT demo), we finally get to see the Meizu M8’s OS in action… and it’s not as bad as you think. Sure, the interface is totally derivative of the iPhone, and there is that pesky cursor floating around, but all-in-all it looks like the company has managed to knock out a decent — if incredibly familiar — UI for its long-delayed phone. Still, there’s some low rent hilarity in this video. Our favorites? The smattering of soft porn pictures and video, and Meizu CEO and all-around bon vivant Jack Wong revealed in a reflection… wearing a face mask! Don’t believe it? Check the clip after the break (and freeze frame of Mr. Wong).

[Thanks, Patrick P.]

Continue reading A functional Meizu M8 UI, CEO Jack Wong finally caught on video

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Continue reading Meizu M8 gets detailed in new words, pictures

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

The saga of the Meizu M8 is one of the more entertaining dramas in the phone biz these days, owing partly to the endless delays and tweaks, granted — but owing much more to the truly masterful ripping of the iPhone’s industrial design. Unfortunately, there’s been very little actual bite to follow up the bark coming out of the Meizu camp, and it looks like we might get a real taste of this thing for the first time as soon as next month. A post on Meizu’s website, seemingly from none other than CEO J. Wong himself, claims that a first cut of the M8 will arrive next month — along with plenty more pictures and details — but it’ll be a somewhat neutered rendition that features just 128MB of RAM and zero flash. October will bring the real deal, a 256MB baddie that rocks 8GB of storage for 2180 yuan, which works out to about $320. Meanwhile, pictures have surfaced of the latest prototype floating around Meizu’s labs, looking both as slick and as litigation-prone as ever. Bring these stateside, Mr. Wong, and we’ll be the very first to sign up — just don’t be surprised if Apple is right behind us.

[Via Electronista]

Read - August for 128MB model, October for 256MB / 8GB?
Read - Prototype M8 in the wild

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In the latest of what’s becoming a long history of tweaks to the Meizu M8 interface, Meizu CEO Jack Wong unleashed some new shots of the upcoming UI to his adoring fans. The new interface is designed by eico design — who have also worked with Google, Lenovo, and Philips — and looks to have a visually-satisfying sparkle animation for selected items (unless the battery above is just leaking). Another addition appears to be LED-styled status updates to applications, like number of missed calls and unread messages. Until we see this all in motion, though, we’ll quietly speculate and hope the pretty pictures are real.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Now, we know the official story on the CeBIT Meizu shutdown was related to MP3 codec licensing, and not the M8’s iPhone-like UI. Still, it does seem strangely fortuitous that more pictures of the phone’s interface have just appeared that seem to showcase a move away from Apple’s familiar look. The Chinese site CNMO has new shots of the device’s music player, which now appears to incorporate song info, EQ display, lyrics, and volume / tracking controls all on one screen. The pictures also show a couple of different music browsing options, both in landscape and portrait mode. Is this a signal that the company is putting some distance between the M8 and the iPhone? Only time will tell.

[Via PMP Today]

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While it appears that Meizu’s infringement shutdown at CeBIT was for unlicensed MP3 usage, and not at all to do with the eerie resemblance to a certain iPhone, the company still seems eager to prove to the world it is brewing something unique with the M8 mini One. CEO Jack Wong posted a bunch of new shots to the Meizu forums with small interface tweaks that inch the OS a bit away from its iPhone roots — but certainly not far.

[Thanks, Lino G.]

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Meizu_s_CeBIT_booth_shut_down_over_MP3_licensing_issues’; Well, it looks like that Meizu CeBIT shutdown wasn’t for what you’d expect — in a Meizu forum post, Jack Wong says that an Italian company called Sisvel complained about another Meizu PMP’s unlicensed use of the MP3 codec, and that’s what prompted the 5-0 to arrive. Interestingly, Jack also says that it’s all a big misunderstanding, because Meizu products, including the M8, don’t actually play MP3s, just WMA, and that local distributors have to cough up the licensing fees for MP3 playback. Apparently the booth is now open again, with the offending PMP removed — the M8 remains on display, probably because it doesn’t actually work yet.

Read - Jack Wong post at Meizu forums
Read - Heise article about the shutdown

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

It’s just three screens on a very early prototype, but for those of you who doubt Meizu’s ability to bring the M8 to market, we give you — the video. Sure, Meizu’s just rendering three image files as opposed to any real processing. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of catchy dialog to hold you over until these pups go live in China sometime around August. Who knew English as a second language could be so fun.

Continue reading Video: Meizu M8 mini One

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Filed under: Cellphones, Features, Portable Audio, Portable Video

So we finally had the chance to lay palms to Meizu’s M8 prototype. Better yet, we set it up side by side with it’s muse, the Apple iPhone. Let’s be clear, the prototype is not functional by any stretch of the imagination. It simply turns on and then slaps up one of three images representing the home screen, dialer, or media player depending upon which of the three physical buttons you press along the bottom of the main display. The capacitive touch panel does not work at all. While the physical components may or may not be in place, this is clearly a very early engineering sample. Having said that, Meizu claims that the hardware is complete and final — they are only working on their Meizu OS tweaks to the Windows CE 6.0 base. However, the GUI and icon designs are pretty much locked in at this point with only minor changes expected before this hits China this August for a to be determined price. Unfortunately, Meizu is still working on their international deployment strategy (duh, they’re looking to sign up distributors at CeBIT) so they are not willing to commit to any dates or prices. Gotta say, for all our justifiable M8 bashing, the mini One felt good in the hand and the additional hard buttons, 720 x 480 pixel display, 3 megapixel camera and likely el cheapo price tag have once again perked our interests. Still, it’s a long way from it’s original 3G HSDPA and kitchen-sink roots and a bit too late (GSM/EDGE in 6 months, Puh-leeze) at this point to be anything more than a novelty outside of China. Nevertheless, the development lifecycle has been fun to watch. Click through for the main features and specifications expected at launch. Video in a jiffy.

Continue reading Meizu M8 mini One vs. iPhone… fight!

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So we hurried on over to the Meizu booth in sweaty-palmed anticipation of laying fleshy bits upon a working M8 MiniOne. It’s gotta be here, right? After all, Meizu CEO Jack Wong promised it his damn self. Nope. Oh sure, they did bring that siliconless, plastic mockup already seen kicking around the Nets for awhile and they offered to show us a laptop-based demo of the UI if we come back tomorrow. Although even the demo is feature incomplete. Nevertheless, Meizu is confident that it will begin shipping the M8 in China in the next “half year” while remaining coy for a rest-of-world launch. Guess reverse engineering the iPhone isn’t so easy, eh Jackson?

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Given the sheer bulk of press Meizu’s M8 has received over the course of its young, controversial life, it’d seem likely that even the slightest trickle of units onto Chinese store shelves would lead to unboxing shots, videos, and reviews within hours, wouldn’t it? Reports are starting to flow across the ‘nets that M8s are now being made available through several of Meizu’s suppliers, but without a single in-the-wild picture of a fully functional, final spec unit — from Meizu, much less a paying customer — we’re not buying it. For one thing, there aren’t any “zomg I just picked up my m8!” posts on MeizuMe; secondly, MeizuMe’s Err0r says that his site will be the “first place” we read about a release (and frankly, we believe him); and third, after the trials and tribulations the handset has gone through on its long journey to retail, you’d think that we’d at least see it at a trade show before it hit the streets. So, anyone want to prove us wrong by posting shots of their M8?

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These pictures of what appears to be a Meizu M8 MiniOne have been popping up all over, but according to postings by CEO Jack Wong, this is just a final design mockup to judge the “feel” of the device, and isn’t real — in fact, it’s not even made of the planned production materials. That’s pretty random — and probably way more effort than necessary, since we’d think you could judge the feel by, you know, purchasing and holding an iPhone.

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