Optimus Touch clones iPod touch near $100 mark
updated 10:10 am EST, Tue December 11, 2007
Optimus Touch
At least one manufacturer is hoping to ride the coattails of the iPod touch through a low-cost alternative, a listing at the online store MP4 Nation reveals. The Optimus Touch is consciously designed to replicate the iPod's touchscreen controls, including very similar icons and music navigation, but includes a few added features common to low-cost players but absent in the iPod touch. A miniSD card slot allows extra storage past the 4GB built into the device; users can also record voice with a built-in microphone, take photos with a 1.3-megapixel camera, and watch DivX- or XviD-formatted video clips at up to 24 frames per second, the manufacturer boasts.
The player reduces several features significantly to undercut its authentic Apple rival. Beyond the lower-quality construction, the handheld's display resolution is reduced to 320x240 (from 480x320) on a smaller 2.8-inch screen and likely strips out the multi-touch input from the iPod. The Optimus' audio support is limited to just MP3 and WMA with a battery life of just 8-10 hours of continuous playback. Video runtime is rated at 3-4 hours between charges.
The exact manufacturer is unknown and is likely to have its roots in China, but helps reduce the price as a result: the Optimus Touch is on sale today from MP4 Nation today for $109, nearly a third the cost of the $299 Apple model it targets.
lol
12/11, 10:43am reply
The guy kept saying the touch screen is responsive, meanwhile, the device refused to react to his touches!
Hilarious!
Also, no mention of a web browser at all...
chefpastry
Mac Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2005
can you say, lawsuit?
12/11, 10:52am reply
though, maybe because it's so bad, no one will bother.
gudin
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2000
Interface
12/11, 10:52am reply
it's like a badly translated user manual, except the things they got wrong are such simple interface features like when it's playing, it should not show the play button, it should show the pause button!
The guy keeps insisting that it's NOTHING like the Apple products. I wonder why he feels the need to pretend that it's not a cheap, poorly made, terribly implemented knock-off?
Zkatz007
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 1999
A great gift idea
12/11, 11:01am reply
The perfect git for someone to whom you want to say "I know you wanted an iPod, but take this cheesy thing instead."
They'll think of you every time they use it. (even more so on those times when they can't find the stylus.)
Paradise Pete
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2007
what a piece of ...
12/11, 11:04am reply
I can't believe anyone will buy it outside of China! I wouldn't take it even if someone offered me $100 note bundled with this c***.
ViktorCode
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2006
market for it
12/11, 11:47am reply
There is plenty of people who will get it. Many developing countries cannot afford $400 for the real thing. They just might be able to squeeze 60 EUR (or local currency equivalent) for something that looks almost as good as the real thing (notice how I didn't say "something that works as good..."). Just like those second-generation Nano Chinese knock-offs you can buy at those cheap stores on 8th Avenue in Manhattan (near the Port Authority bus terminal). The appearance is almost identical. The moment you turn them on, however, you realise it's an impostor.
It will fly below the radar, much like all other fakes out there.
vasic
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: May 2005
LOL
12/11, 11:50am reply
It's as saying an amish buggy made by a blind cripple "strips" away features from a Mercedes. And it's cheaper? Oh really?
dliup
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2006
lol what a POS
12/11, 11:52am reply
Seriously. If that's the future of mp3 players, can I please go back in time to 2002 and have my 5 gig ipod back?
zaghahzag
Dedicated MacNNer
Joined: Aug 2006
interesting name...
12/11, 12:05pm reply
I thought at first that it was related to the Optimus keyboard guys.
ZinkDifferent
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jan 2005
Another piece of c***
12/11, 12:18pm reply
Another piece of c***. Nothing runs OSX like the iPhone, and the video and resolutions are much lower than the iPhone. No apps like the iPhone either. Just another c*** clone that will fail like the rest of them. This would be news if it was a real new design by another manufacturer. But instead it's just an iPhone copy/clone that doesn't even come close to the real thing. Cheap is as cheap does and that's what you would get with this c***. It probably wouldn't last a day without crashing.
horvatic
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Apr 2002