Filed under: Humor, Found Footage, iPhone
Found Footage: iPhone.. by Nokia?
Our sister blog Engadget is crazy about all things gadgety, which is why they covered the boatload of Nokia announcements today. Those announcements included the phone in the video above. Look a little familiar to anyone? Now, I'm not usually one to accuse companies of copying Apple, product development is a long process and different paths can lead to the same destination. That being said, when questioned during the press event about how this phone looks a little like the iPhone (i.e. exactly like it) Nokia's Exec VP said, "If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride."
At least they are honest.
This phone should be available sometime next year, unless Apple Legal stops it.


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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Taylor said 11:35AM on 8-29-2007
This is really disgusting. Apple better do something to stop them from releasing this second-rate, knocked-off monstrosity.
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UK said 11:38AM on 8-29-2007
Death to Nokia and all its users!
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Taylor said 11:40AM on 8-29-2007
agreed.
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Cameron Hunt said 11:43AM on 8-29-2007
How come they pronounce it "knock ia" instead of "know-kia"?
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Wardog said 11:47AM on 8-29-2007
Is this Nokia's idea of a joke or what? Definately not buying that. Anyway, I thought Apple filed about 200 patents for the iPhone. I'm sure Apples's talented lawyers will be able to find at least one which Nokia violated
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Adrian said 3:58PM on 8-29-2007
Nokia's got some front, still you got to laugh eh?. At the end of the day if you belive you can't beat it, copy it, It's not right, but bussiness is bussiness.
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ryan Zivari said 11:54AM on 8-29-2007
whoooooooo, go apple legal team.
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Mike said 11:54AM on 8-29-2007
If it's cheaper and unlocked and has 3G, I might have to get one.
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Will said 11:54AM on 8-29-2007
"knock ia" is the way its really pronounced.
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DBrim said 11:55AM on 8-29-2007
I know that I'm going to get crucified for this, but what if Nokia can do things better? Video, 3G, not locked to a carrier, and all of the other flaws fixed from the iPhone.
Competition is good for the consumer (see: DSLR race or format war deals from yesterday), so I welcome this.
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Indiana82 said 11:58AM on 8-29-2007
I think the copycats moved from Redmond
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Harald said 11:59AM on 8-29-2007
If it really is a second-rate, knocked-off monstrosity, Apple will have nothing to fear. If it's any good, all the more reason for Apple to improve on the iPhone. We, as consumers, will at worst have more options.
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James Wilson said 8:49AM on 8-30-2007
This is exactly what innovation is meant to do, someone innovates and someone innovates that. I'm sure there are already improvements that could be made to the iphone (although i live in the UK and haven't used one yet) but I think it's good that someone is going to take the next step, and apple (or someone else) will only make that better.
That being said I doubt it will be as good as the iphone, but I would like to have the option of buying a similar phone on a different network other than O2 here in the UK. My experience of O2 and the experiences of my friends has been very poor, and I never thought that the company shared the same ethos or attitude as Apple. The closest I would have thought would have been 3 (although only a 3G network, so probably wouldn't be interested in the iphone), so the next on would have been orange who have a strong history of supporting the arts, and music (BAFTAs, Orange Wednesdays, etc).
I personally think it's ridiculous that Apple will tie their handset to one operator, now it has been unlocked I believe that they should now open it to any operator that wants it (although this probably won't be possible in the US now, since Apple & AT&T will have some form of contract). However, in Europe and the rest of the world supposedly these deals haven't been done.
Apple should have followed the existing etiquette in the market, and let the operators subside the handset. Although they wouldn't have got a steady stream of income they would have sold alot more iphones. At the end of the day it is the operators who are paying to discount the handsets and Apple is still getting it's money. It's good for Apple (they sell more iphones at the same price), its good for the networks because it encourages people to use their networks, and its ultimately good for the customers (you and me) because we get cheaper good quality phones.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
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shawn said 12:04PM on 8-29-2007
What has Nokia copied that a) doesn't exist in prior art (aka: Apple copied too) or b) doesn't pass the "obviousness" hurdle?
Apple has a good case where some of the software interface is concerned, but not all of it. They didn't come up with the multi-touch screen, as an example. They did patent some of the "gestures" used to zoom in and out, but other gestures, like scrolling, aren't going to hold up in court.
Some of the prior art here is by an open source project (www.openmoko.org) funded by FIC.
I think it's a bit cheesy of Nokia to do that, but if they can be first to market in Europe where the iPhone isn't available and where they already have a huge market, they may overshadow the iPhone. And in Europe, no one will have to hack the Nokia to take it from provider to provider; handset lock-in is illegal there.
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Goran said 12:03PM on 8-29-2007
Looks nice. Just like the iPhone (2007) and the LG Prada (2006).
I hope they take experience from the iPhone and upgrade on it to make an even better little machine that will have an earlier European debut.
Rationally speaking.
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Rhys said 12:10PM on 8-29-2007
I am hoping that this Nokia phone really is a great piece of technology and makes Apple sit up and take notice of it.
Because if there is something out there that is a threat, it will force Apple to further innovate and improve their next iPhone(s) to blow us away with something amazing (again).
But it's not like Apple to sit on their hands anyway.
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Richard said 12:11PM on 8-29-2007
Just because they copied the hardware, does not mean they have copied the software. Part of the attraction of the iPhone is the simplicity of the OS - which is better then any other phone OS I've seen. Granted, its not light-years better, but still better nevertheless.
Also, this might be a good thing, because it could help in the effort to force Apple to do some things that they have not wanted to, such as an SDK and A2DP.
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Mike said 12:16PM on 8-29-2007
This is the problem with the phone industry: everyone is a me-too artistic trying to bullshit that they're innovative. Apple comes out with a better way to interact with a phone, so instead of going back to the drawing board and trying to leap-frog that, these stupid phone companies go back to the MacWorld Keynote and say, "We can bullshit that in our phone!"
It's pathetic.
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basscadet said 12:17PM on 8-29-2007
If it's revolutionary and justifies its price then it has nothing to fear. If it's just a huge screen on a phone that simply combines ipod with gsm with slow connection speeds and no flash support, uses touch screen for navigation and sensor monitored orientation and all that is sold at close to twice the manufacture price then... hello Nokia.
Would anyone not expect all the mainstream GSM companies ride the wave Apple hype has generated?
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Johnny Thrash said 12:19PM on 8-29-2007
Nokia could NEVER compete with Apple. Not even in their wildest dreams.
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