Meizu is no-show at CES Qingdao convention

This is a nice piece of breakdown Traps. I'm glad you wrote it.

Now for the reply.

Originally Posted by Traps

I agree that the M6 is somewhat inspired by "the iPod" or (in my opinion) Apple products in general, but you are exagerating. Despite all it's inspirations, the M6 is a distinct product that can't be mistaken for an iPod. Let me throw in my 2cents:

You are right on that it is a product inspired by apple products in many different ways but I think you can see it was definately inspired by the ipod range moreso than other apple products.

Originally Posted by Traps

Well, you know what.. there are even fridges that meet that description! :P
Seriously, I agree that there's a similarity, but it's not because of those points. What's really similar is the double layered casing (with the transparent protective mask), which is exactly the same as in the 1st gen iPod nano.

While you made reference to some fridges having the same design, it is much more valid and noticable if you keep to the product type as that is what was copied/recycled. More than likely someone wouldn't mistake the m6 as an ipod outright but if you asked someone, who didn't know of meizu, who they thought made the m6 or what it reminded them of I am sure most would say apple and the ipod.

Originally Posted by Traps

But 1+2+3 are not really significant. In fact, your point number 3 is actually one of the biggest differences: the iPod has it's very unique (and awkward) "click weel", which is basically 90% of it's design uniqueness. As you can see, the M6's touchpad is VERY different from that. In fact, it's as different as a touchpad could ever be, and it also has it's own uniqueness and style. Yeah, the colour scheme is the same, but Apple did not 'invent' that either.

My point there was they they took the design and just recycled it. Can you honestly say that they didn't look at the ipod and the design and then design the m6 with the 'half metal[back]' & 'half white[front] as the case with the grey touch pad because of any other reason? I mean it is essentially the ipod design but recycled in a different layout?

Originally Posted by Traps

I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that Meizu hired people from Creative to design the menu system. So there might be a legitimate similarity with Creative. It might also be similar to the iPod, but that would be because Apple copied Creative in the first place.

They very well may have, i'll try look it up and let you know.

Originally Posted by Traps

True, but that's also exactly like many other companies did. Even the Creative MuVo I bought so many years ago came in black and white versions. Samsung's players are a good example too.

My point here was that they took the half metal case part of the design, took the front part of the design and then took the colour range too. I also had a MuVo, which was gray and dark blue/navy quite expensive at the time too (I think $400 for 1.5 gb), but that design was completely different. My point is the design AND colour range were taken. No initiative to release different colours too.

Originally Posted by Traps

Finally, I also don't think this is a valid point: the iPod doesn't have a blue background. I understand that it's

similar to the OSX

default background, but that does not qualify as "ripping the iPod". Also, even Linux distributions come with similar default blue backgrounds, and no one has ever complained about those.

I am not sure which version of the m6 you own, if you own the m6, but the original m6 had 'THE' Apple background. It wasn't simply similar. It was the 'ACTUAL' Apple background.

Here is a comparison:



On the left is the meizu m6. On the right is the Apple default background. They are not just similar Traps, they are identical, as in, the same.

On another note. Look at something I found in an old thread. This guy was spot on.

Also note, I think his post was edited by someone as it looks like he is bashing the M8 but it looks changed to bash apple and the iphone.

This is cool apple sucks and will probably be sued for patent infringement not to mention its a cheap knock off. As long as there is a Prada there will be some poor shmuck selling cheap ipod knockoffs to customers remember you pay for what you get. Look at all the iPod wanna be's where are they now? In 18 months the iphone will be nothing but a distant memory

Originally Posted by Err0r

Originally Posted by unregistered

Look at all the iPod wanna be's where are they now? In 18 months time this will be nothing but a distant memory

It kinda depends on what you classify as an iPod wannabe, but judging by your post, you would probably have classified the Meizu M6 as a copy too.

And where is it now? Today, it is one of the most sought after flash players.

You can see even in Err0r's post his comment was different.

Anyway what I feel he was trying to say was that the M8 was a rip off and in 18 months the M8 would be a distant memory and no one would care.

That was posted on the 2nd of March 2007 which is funny as it is close enough to 18 months and the M8 still isn't out.

Originally Posted by tails2

I am not sure which version of the m6 you own, if you own the m6, but the original m6 had 'THE' Apple background. It wasn't simply similar. It was the 'ACTUAL' Apple background.

Here is a comparison:



On the left is the meizu m6. On the right is the Apple default background. They are not just similar Traps, they are identical, as in, the same.

They are very similar, but not identical. If you look carefully, you will see subtle differences. If you don't believe me, you can download an old firmware version and export the background BMP and compare it with the OSX wallpaper.

Regarding the edited post: I have no idea how that happened, I'll check it out.

Ok, even if they are copying Apple, so what? I mean, do you hate that? Does that bother you? I think it's good that we have those knock off products. Some are not that great but the great ones fix the problems that Apple did or are a more affordable version of a Ipod. Or if you are like me and hate the click wheel, the M6 would be great. Runs well, looks great, low price, practical and I like it. I don't care if they tried to copy Apple, it's a great product.

Are you serious tails2? How is the physical design of the M6 inspired by the iPod.

I thought tails2 already said that a few posts above?

There is NO physical similarity between the M6 and the iPod!



Notice:

iPod: Round click-wheel, more than 50% of the front surface
M6: Angled, very small touchpad (less than 25% of the front surface)

iPod: Used vertically
M6: Used horizontally

There are similarities in the GUI and in the shell color (uh, did Apple patend the colors white and black?) ... so what?

That's why I thought he was joking. The M6 doesn't look ANYTHING like the iPod. He thinks it's a knock off because it has a silver back and the front is white. That's pretty stupid.

@tails2:
Yeah, like I said, I agree that the M6's design is inspired by Apple products. And yes, it's true that it's more inspired by the iPod range than other Apple products.
But that's as far as it goes. Despite the similarities we already discussed, the M6 has it's own unique design/layout, and no one would mistake it for an iPod. You could say that at first sight it looks like an Apple product, but it is certainly not a copy or a clone. That was what I meant with my post.

The only point where I really think Meizu went wrong on the M6 was copying the coloured "mini" for the "miniPlayer" logo, which is a bit shameful IMO. But I still think it looks better on the M6 than on the iPod mini, lol


@hendrik & SteveMB93:
In fact, from that picture it's obvious that the double layered front casing (opaque colour inside + transparent outside) is exactly the same. I don't think there's any legal or moral problem with that, since those are just build materials that don't belong to Apple, but let's not pretend that it's a coincidence either.
Mentioning the colour scheme (white front + light grey touchpad + white text) and rounded corners like everyone does is a bit far-fetched by itself, but If you consider these together with the casing, it adds up to make the coincidence more impossible, and the source of inspiration more obvious.

Note that when I use the word inspiration, I really mean inspiration, without any sarcasm. The M6 is still a unique product in it's own right.

Anyway, I get a bit frustrated with all these comparisons. After all, I'm comparing my beloved M6 to the (crappy) iPod range which I absolutely hate.. it kinda hurts to admit that they share some things in common.


On topic:
Tomorrow will be the 15th in China, and according to the mods on the Chinese BBS, the test version of the M8 is going to be on-schedule. I'm curious as to what kind of news we will have tomorrow

Originally Posted by SteveMB93

That's why I thought he was joking. The M6 doesn't look ANYTHING like the iPod. He thinks it's a knock off because it has a silver back and the front is white. That's pretty stupid.

steve steve steve.... If you honestly really think that the M6 doesn't look ANYTHING like the ipod then I can't explain it further to you as you won't ever admit it no matter how it is put across to you.

Originally Posted by Traps

@tails2:
Yeah, like I said, I agree that the M6's design is inspired by Apple products. And yes, it's true that it's more inspired by the iPod range than other Apple products.
But that's as far as it goes. Despite the similarities we already discussed, the M6 has it's own unique design/layout, and no one would mistake it for an iPod. You could say that at first sight it looks like an Apple product, but it is certainly not a copy or a clone. That was what I meant with my post.

The only point where I really think Meizu went wrong on the M6 was copying the coloured "mini" for the "miniPlayer" logo, which is a bit shameful IMO. But I still think it looks better on the M6 than on the iPod mini, lol


@hendrik & SteveMB93:
In fact, from that picture it's obvious that the double layered front casing (opaque colour inside + transparent outside) is exactly the same. I don't think there's any legal or moral problem with that, since those are just build materials that don't belong to Apple, but let's not pretend that it's a coincidence either.
Mentioning the colour scheme (white front + light grey touchpad + white text) and rounded corners like everyone does is a bit far-fetched by itself, but If you consider these together with the casing, it adds up to make the coincidence more impossible, and the source of inspiration more obvious.

Note that when I use the word inspiration, I really mean inspiration, without any sarcasm. The M6 is still a unique product in it's own right.

Anyway, I get a bit frustrated with all these comparisons. After all, I'm comparing my beloved M6 to the (crappy) iPod range which I absolutely hate.. it kinda hurts to admit that they share some things in common.


On topic:
Tomorrow will be the 15th in China, and according to the mods on the Chinese BBS, the test version of the M8 is going to be on-schedule. I'm curious as to what kind of news we will have tomorrow

Traps I fully believe the M6 was inspired by Apple. That is not a bad thing and in fact we all know the M6 is better compared to it. I owned an ipod and had it for about 6 months. Had nothing but trouble with it and got rid of it the first chance I got. It broke down completely and so they gave me a replacement and I sold it immediately and got myself an iriver H320. One of the best players I had, still have it with no problems ever. I also have an M6 so the other people here shouldn't think I am a Meizu hater or something. To top it off I also have a Cowon D2, which I feel is the better of my 2 small players. Anyway at least you can see that the M6 got inspiration from the ipod range. The thing that drives me nuts is people who either purposely or unbeknowenst to themselves cannot see this or don't want to see it.



ON TOPIC, it's now 9:15am on Monday morning here in China and tomorrow better be frickin news worthy in relation to the M8.

LOL I know this is a tad bit irrelevant but when I got my m6 around august of last year and I would always listen to it at school and at the gym. Well people always assumed it was the "new" ipod at that time lol. Sure they didn't patent colors but they did affect the population. Whenever someone sees you with white buds or mp3 they assume its an ipod. LOL I also remember a video of jw talking about apple or something.