Fake Chinese HTC TyTN II

Chinese have cloned yet another device. This time it’s HTC TyTN II. As you can see the fonts and icons on the screen here are wrong, but generally this is a quality fake, as the phone itself looks almost the same. Moreover, it has two SIM slots and runs Windows Mobile.

See more photos here...

Fake iPod Nano with real Apple logo

OK, we've seen tons of iPod look-a-likes and other fake MP3 players and mobile phones. In a lot of stores in China you van buy Sasmung or Nokio (no, these are no typo's) cell phones who look like the real deal but most certainly aren't!

The producer of this fake iPod Nano (in French) however takes it to the next level. As you van see, this 'Nano' not only looks like the real deal, but also has a 'genuine' Apple Logo and everything else to make this fake look as real as possible.

Read about the new fake of iPod Nano

Fake Sony Rechargeable Battery and Charger

We would like to bring to your attention that counterfeit of Sony rechargeable battery and its charger are sold in the market and recently we discovered cases in China, India and Iran for Sony“Cycle Energy” Nickel-Metal Hydrate Rechargeable Battery Charger & Rechargeable Battery.

Read on sony.com

New Xbox 720 real or fake?

The fact is, Microsoft haven't released any images of the Xbox 3, or 720 as the case may be - everything you see until further notice is fake. They probably haven't even built a prototype yet.

Fake Gucci phone

Now this is one piece of bling tech that we could all do without - a cloned Gucci phone from China that comes coated in fake gold, how apt for a fake handset! You get the Gucci emblem plastered on all sides, a 2.1" 16 million color QVGA display, an integrated FM radio, a 2 megapixel camera, and a microSD memory card slot. It comes in a (naturally) fake Gucci box as well as a certificate of authenticity - how ironic!

How Fake Is Your PC?

"Personal computers are getting faker. The percentage of counterfeit components is growing steadily, if unevenly. Fake components make PCs cheaper. The downside is declining reliability, safety and performance. Is it even possible to keep it real?

A massive crackdown at U.S. and European airports during two weeks in December yielded some 360,000 fake electronic components worth $1.3 billion, including phony Intel chips and about 40 other major brands. The raids were announced last Friday.

Such high-visibility busts mask the difficulty in stopping counterfeit components.

The problem, in a word, is: China. Murky and Byzantine supply chains, lax enforcement of weak intellectual property laws and an outlaw manufacturing culture all contribute to widely available fake PC components mixed together with legitimate parts in the PC components supply chain.

China is the world's leading manufacturer of, well, just about everything. And it's also counterfeit central -- more fake products of all kinds come from China than from the rest of the world combined.

The growing counterfeits problem is the dark side of the incredible cheapness of PCs these days. The driving force is consumers and businesses who view PCs as commodities to be purchased based on price, rather than quality and reliability. Declining margins force OEMs to seek ever cheaper suppliers, which in turn seek out less expensive components. Often, the cheapest part is the fakest part.

It's possible to buy a fully counterfeit PC and think it's original equipment. The Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) says one in ten IT products sold is fake. But even a computer sold legitimately by a brand-name outfit might have a counterfeit motherboard. And even if the motherboard is real, various chips and parts on that board might be fake."
Read the whole article here

Fake Apple iPods Flooding USA

Fake Vertu Ascent on eBay and other stores

This is a Vertu Ascent fake called "Veptu".

Fake iPhones Exploited - Counterfeit iPhones Discovered

Some of us have had a chance to see a fake iPod or maybe read about them online. Well, what about a fake counterfeit iPhone? Yes, they have fake iPhones in China which are poor examples of the real iPhone. Shown in the images on this post are several examples of fake “iClone” iPhones mainly from China. It seems most of them run a “bootleg” version of windows mobile or what appears to be Windows mobile from the splash screen that it displays upon start-up. Many sites have sold these devices for much less than the real Apple iPhone and have legitimately gotten away with it.

Read more about the fake iPhones here

Motorola Bluetooth accessories vs nasty Asian fakes

Can you spot the fake? Motorola hopes so

Motorola has an interesting campaign on, showing the fact that it is tough to spot the difference between genuine Motorola Bluetooth accessories and nasty Asian copies.

There are some cool test sheets doing the rounds in Asia, with side-by-side shots of legit and fake H500 and H700 units, as well as a fully packaged H700. The sheet has a peel back face so you can make your guesses, then reveal whether you got it right or wrong.

Why not give it a try? Answers below the fold.

Fake Nokia N94i Rattles Blog World

A photo of an alleged Nokia N94i is going around the Web. The interesting bit is not that it was a an unannounced Nseries model but that it is apparently running Windows Mobile. But is it? Closer exception suggests Windows XP. Windows XP on a cell phone? What we have here is either a genuine fake or a real iPhone Killer.

Fake Vertu phones

Made in China

How to spot fake PSP memory sticks?

Fake memory cards

If you are ever going to buy a memory card for your phone, or for anything, there are a lot of things that you have to be mindful of when buying. Also, there's lots of places that are worth avoiding if you want genuine cards. This topic will guide you to make sure your card is legit.

How do I tell whether a card is fake or not?

There's a number of ways. Your card might be performing poorly (reading and writing speeds are slow), it might fail suddenly, or you might have what's called a "swap". There's much more to that though.

Real memory cards will perform well and have a long life expectancy.

Files can be read, retrieved, and written at reasonable speeds. However speeds will decrease overtime. For fakes, they do fail unexpectedly, and have way less read/write speeds than real cards. (If you previously have a real card of the same type, you will recognize this easily)

Case swaps

Case swaps happen a lot with fake sticks. What this basically means is that the scammer opens up the memory cad, takes the chip out, and replaces it with one of a smaller size. In the end, the card will say that its a '4GB', (for example) while inside it can be anywhere from a 32MB (or even less =\) to a 2GB card. Cards can also be remade into "fake" sizes that do not generally exist. Nevertheless, it is sold at the price "advertised" and it leaves you at a loss and the scammer at a profit.

Incorrect Partitioning

For the tech-savvy, this is just as drastic as Case Swapping. For those who aren't, partitioning is like dividing up space so each "block" created is seen as a different device when it is being read. However, sometimes, counterfeiters can manually create partitions (those blocks) to different sizes, and make any remaining space completely oblivious to the device and the computer. Also, they may purposely destroy the partition table to simply screw up the card more. (Partition table tells how each partition is arranged, how big, what letter assignment it gives [G:\], etc.) With the proper tools, you can fix the partitioning to be their proper sizes, but at the end of the day, the card is fake.

Packaging and Appearance

Fake packaging is going to be the first way to detect a fake card. What counterfeiters don't and probably can't perfect is the packaging. The legit companies make fades, and designs not only to make the product look appealing but make it hard to copy. On top of that, the packaging might be put in a special way for the same reason. Take a look at this picture:

Can you figure out which one is the fake and which one is the real deal? Left is fake, right is real, and for some of the most obvious reasons. First off, the real package has a more vivid touch to it, and by the looks of it, physically running your hand over it will give off a different feel as well. Second, the "All Rights Reserved" circle next to "Ultra" is smaller on the fake than the real card. Back on the top, you can see that the fonts are noticeably different. (Wrong font style, and size means its FAKE.) Moving down to the bottom left, there is a sticker FROM "Sandisk" indicating that this is real. On the bottom right, there is a checkmark label which stands out more on the real package. Take a look at the memory stick, you can see that you can see the wavy (at lack of a better word) design on the sticker. This is another security feature. When you shine a light at the right angle, you can see the design which is much more lively (at the lack of a better word, again), then the fake. This is similar to the weave design on the back of checks. Now this is just for Sandisk Ultra II cards. Just keep this in mind even when buying from retail stores. In Addition to observing packaging, you have to be aware of what types of memory cards they are for whatever you are buying. If such a thing does not exist on the manufacturer's website, it's a guaranteed fake if someone else is selling it.

Here in this picture, we see a Sony/Sandisk 4GB High Speed in its packaging. Ironically, at the time, high speed cards only went up to a max of 2GB. Perfect example of counterfeiters selling "non-existent" products.

If you aren't sure what package you should look for, look it up online.

Appearance

My favorite part of the guide. Where we tear apart the memory cards. Appearance are still not as good on fake cards as they are on real cards. As with packaging, improper fades of colors can be used, physical body can be wrong, or wrong fonts used. Let's take a look at a Sony Memory Stick Duo card.

As you can see, the fake card fails with all that I've mentioned. The design is wrong on the fake card, and the wrong font is used. Also, quality is also different in comparison with both cards. Take a look into the housing section below.

Housing

The casing on fake cards can be iffy. Meaning they can break, wear out, etc. very easily to rubbing or other means of contact. Real cards won't do this at an alarming rate. Also, the housing might make the memory card slightly bigger which means you have to jam the memory card in order to insert it into your device.

Security

Security can be put in place on memory cards. On all Sandisk, Sony, Lexar, and similar memory sticks, there is a copy protection called MagicGate. Simply, MagicGate just tells if the stick is fake or not. The reason for this is that real cards will have this. Fake cards, will definitely not and will NOT ever pass a MagicGate test. Other protections include serial number identifications on the manufacturer's site.

Fake Serials

Fake cards will always have a fake serial. You can definitely check this by calling up support and asking them to verify this for you. If the serial is not in their systems, you can flag it as an automatic fake. Also, serials might follow a specific pattern depending on the type of memory card. If the memory card fails to follow that pattern, it is a fake. For example, if SD High Speed cards have a serial beginning with "SHSC" and ends in "1234", and a card has "SHSC-xxx-xxx-1337", it is fake. (Since it didn't follow the pattern completely.

I'm pretty sure that support will hunt down the scammer and give you some sort of certificate for redemption.

How can I verify that my card is real?

Use the serial identification as mentioned above, check the housing, read/write speeds (if you know how to gather them), and use MagicGate for the products that has them. Also, fake cards might not be able to perform certain functions that a real stick could.

Are there sites and places that I should avoid buying cards from?

Definitely. There are scammers all about, and you have to be the one that makes the final decision on whether or not to buy that card or not. Here is a list of a couple of blacklisted sites:

eBay - 99% of cards that are posted here are fake. End of story. If you have the time, and patience to buy from the seller, check the feedback of the user before buying. It's really hard to go after that seller and get your money back.

Amazon - Fakes can float here as well. I'm not saying that 100% fakes are shipped here, but it happens.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/ - Users have confirmed purchasing fakes. There are no refunds.
www.memorybits.co.uk - User confirmed fakes.

There's more than that. If you stumble across any other sites, feel free to post.

So where can I buy?

All of these sites are confirmed. Explains why they are up as well doesn't it?

www.mobymemory.com
www.dabs.com
www.mymemory.co.uk
www.newegg.com - Good deals every now and then, and fast shipping.
www.sony.com
www.estarland.com
www.cclonline.com
www.play.com
www.zipzoomfly.com
www.newegg.com
www.shop1.frys.com - They have good deals
www.allmemorycards.co.uk
www.divineo.com - It's a gaming site but they sell memory cards as well. They do CODs (US/Canada) if that is more convenient for you.

Final Words of Advice

Trust your instincts. Ask yourself? Is this buyer trusted? Where am I buying the card from? What have other users said about this user/site? Is the card overpriced? These are all questions that come to mind when buying a memory stick. Also, if you have used any of the sections of this guide to verify your card and it fails, it can be a fake. Also, try more than one check as a card can fail one test and pass the others. It's up to you whether or not you see the card as fake. Also, not to insult but follow this rule - > K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid. Just take the original, and regular memory stick. The other difference between all the versions are read/write prices, and the enhanced versions always cost more money than the original one. If you know what you are buying is going to be of use, get it, but keep the possibility of fake sticks in your mind. If you have no idea about the improved versions, just stick to the originals.

Telsda Fake Phones

In the news recently is Nokia suing a company that is making copy-cat cell phones that looks like Nokia's. However, Telsda copies more than just Nokia's cell phones, the table on the right show their other selection with the real ones on the bottom.

If you look close enough, you will see that the Telsda handsets are not exact copies. But it is obvious they are not being inventive in designs and just taking someone's else, Telsda have made some small cosmetic changes while at the same time leaving in distinctive styling details that give the game away.

Telsda is not the only company that are doing this, one good thing I can say is that at least they are not trying to pass the handsets off the real stuff, unlike some other Far Eastern manufacturers who actually make even more convincing big brand handsets complete with a fake "Nokia", "Samsung", "Sony Ericsson" or "Motorola" label.

So if you like to support the real manufacturer, just make sure you are buying from legit places.

Fake Nokia N95 and 5300

Using the original design "conveniently", there are many fake phones being made and sold in Asia countries. In fact, we are able to find new fake phone model every week from the manufacturer website. Other than making their phones similar to Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung and Motorola models, some of the retailers are also selling the fake phone with similar packaging. You might buy a phone by paying the Nokia price but got the fake Nokia at the end. Just look closely when you purchase suspicious cheap phone!

Fake Counterfeit iPods

Fake iPod nano and shuffle!

'Fake iPhone' Photo Comparison

iPhone clones may be the next big thing in cell phone innovation, but iPhone fakes are also catching on. Below you can see a fake compared to the real one. Do you know the difference?

Beware of fake 16GB/32GB/64GB USB Flash Drives on eBay

A very high percentage of all 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB and now 16GB, 32GB, 64GB USB Flash Drives listed on eBay are counterfeit items and have fake & overstated capacities. No Name 16GB to 128GB USB Flash Drives are mostly FAKE!
Read whole article here