SciPhone shocker! N12 handset features 'genuine' Android OS
by Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Jun 19th 2009 at 11:41AM
It looks we don't have ol' SciPhone to kick around anymore. Sure, we had some laughs -- mainly due to the fact that the irony-resistant handset manufacturer was ripping off an open source OS -- but now it looks like all that has changed. The SciPhone N12 (apparently) runs genuine Android, sports both quadband GSM and WCDMA (3G), and packs a 3.2-inch touchscreen, WiFi, a GPS module, CMMB TV support, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 624MHz Marvell processor under the hood. Listed for CNY $1,600 (roughly $234), this bad boy should be out June 25. Check out a couple more pics after the break.
[Via PMP Today]
[Via PMP Today]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jdwme @ Jun 19th 2009 12:14PM
Ok, so either someone photoshoped the android os on there or their phone is running a rooted rom with a custom theme. Superuser and terminal apps in the bottom right hand corner and the screen shot app all require root, not to mention I remember this theme posted on xda, interesting
robertniknam @ Jun 19th 2009 12:14PM
Not to be rude but do the local of this device's market actually buy these handsets? I mean are they retarded? Are knock off's like legit over there?
Jamar @ Jun 21st 2009 1:12AM
Yes and yes. The government doesn't bother to do anything now because the worst thing you can do in an economic crisis is to kill off jobs (by way of shutting down the knockoff makers). And the use of UMTS indicates that this is going to Unicom, which won't be selling it without branding, so the pics are also somewhat dubious.
Cheryl @ Sep 7th 2009 5:42AM
Hi. I'm a sales from Bluelans, the Manufacturer of Sciphone series, such as I68+, Dream G2, S18, N12 and so on. And our factory located in Shenzhen of China.The prices of our high quality products drop down much now, such as Sciphone I68+. And we are the original factory of this item.
If more information requested, please contact me without hesitate. we will do our best to meet you request. My email address is cheryl@bluelans.com and my EMS address is chenyao0@live.cn
How about starting a much more efficient business relationship with our original factory from now on?
Looking forward to your early reply.
Thank you. :-)
mighty @ Jun 19th 2009 12:24PM
LOL !! these are Touch HD's renders with some photoshop work! Can't believe you didn't notice!
So either it's a total fake, or they have ripped every bit of design from sides, back and to some extent front of Touch HD
mohsen @ Jun 19th 2009 12:38PM
a link for comparison: (the exact same renders, lol)
http://www.htc.com/www/product/touchhd/gallery.html
jdwme @ Jun 19th 2009 1:28PM
it is an image from a t-mobile device, but from the G1, as I stated above, that image is a screen shot of a theme for the g1 that was posted on xda-developers or androidcommunity back when we were rocking the jf modified rc30
BryanL @ Jun 19th 2009 2:20PM
The shadow does match pretty much exactly
brucewayne @ Jun 19th 2009 1:18PM
Ummm...I believe it may be photoshop work too. Looking at the solo shot of the front of the device.. One would assume it is heading for T-Mobile because one of the icons is "myFaves." I'm guessing its a photoshop work from a HTC Magic. Button layout looks suspiciously like the Magic as well.
mohsen @ Jun 19th 2009 2:17PM
I didn't mean the software. I meant the looks of the device. if you take a look at the link I provided, you'll know what I mean. Apart from the front view which has some buttons added by photoshop, the other sides are exactly the same as Touch HD.
Bruce Wayne @ Jun 19th 2009 5:23PM
I know. =) Hardware wise the device looks like the Touch HD. It is especially evident in the rear of the device. ...the shinny chin and the camera area. It looks like they tried using photoshop to change the camera area too, and did a poor job of it. So I guess we still have SciPhone to kick around...
makhay @ Jul 1st 2009 4:46PM
so where is it now?
wolfman @ Jul 6th 2009 5:06AM
i own a Sciphone dream G2 mobile whichi brought off eBay a couple of weeks back. Its a great mobile. However the virtual keyboard sucks requiring me to use the stylus as the letters are too small for my fingers. however the touchscreen is very responsive and normally u can use the phone using your fingers only.
Tha interpolated camera takes great pictures better n clearer than my current Sony ericson which has a 2 megapixels camera. however at bright sunlight at full 3.9MP max resolution the picture loses its colours which is remedied by using 2MP ie 1600x1200 resolution which gives still great printable pictures.
the music player is average and video playback some what better than in the i68 and s18 with no problems of framerate cropping up in this handset.
However the wifi really drains the battery.
Overall a good buy... better than my previous similar priced branded phones.