Yeah, we too are hoping that these overseas impostors will have to start changing up their game if they still want to ape the iPhone in just a few months, but as it stands, the Toggolino Phone actually does a fantastic job of shaming itself. Apparently this handset, er, device comes packaged with some form of German kit meant to teach kinder a few things about words, animals and the equitable distribution of wealth throughout social classes. Okay, so maybe that last bit isn't in there, but seriously, those animal apps look way more interesting than stocks, weather and company email.

[Thanks, Oliver]

Doing a double-take? Yeah, us too -- in fact, we're not totally convinced it's fake. This here is allegedly a "chinese [sic] clone" of Nokia's 3.2 megapixel N73 candybar for sale in New Zealand, but apart from some wonky looking user interface stuff, it looks like a perfectly legit Asia-spec N73 to us. For what it's worth, the specs list a 2 megapixel cam (1.2 off the real deal's mark), a mere dual-mode GSM radio, and a listing of "data mode" that leads us to believe that EDGE may be nowhere to be found -- let alone 3G -- so odds are the imitation only goes skin deep. Then again, if it turns out to be one of Espoo's own, someone's lined up to get a real steal on an N73, no?

[Thanks, Ebbi]

As the zero day quickly approaches, we thought only a retrospective detailing some of the highlights -- and lowlights -- to come out of the always-colorful knockoff industry could encapsulate this whole new level of buzz the iPhone has brought to the mobile industry. Love 'em or hate 'em, credit has to be given to these guys for busting out an endless array of not-quite-iPhones in mere weeks after the world finally got a look at the real deal.

As it turns out, there are just so many real iPhone knockoffs we had to skip over most pre-iPhone photoshops / mockups, as well as those ubiquitous iPhone skins; if imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, the clownfish on the iPhone's wallpaper should be turning from orange to bright red right about now. Let's get started, shall we?

We've gotta hand it to them: electronics conmen are extremely confident in their belief in the ignorance of the masses. Gaze at the unbelievably poor "Ipod [sic] style Mobile Phone iPhone" rendition above, and then suck in the £75 (around $150) pricetag. It comes complete with an iPod-esque white finish, Mac OS X wallpaper, and a strange Quicktime skin for the included media player, but the kicker has got to be the modified Apple logo -- as if the extra leaf is going to fool anyone.

[Thanks, John Derbyshire]

If we've said it once, we've said it a thousand times: don't try to pull of this whole fakin' it thing if you aren't going to take it all the way. While the eBay perp in this situation obviously committed hundreds of man-hours into making sure he used every single tacky font color and size on his item listing, we can't say as much for this "Langxin M902" he's peddling. The phone pretends to Sony Ericsson W950i UIQ heights, but ends up looking a bit more like a dollar store edition -- unacceptable, somebody should be working their sweatshop workers at least twice as hard! All the same, 12.6mm of thickness, an included 512MB memory card, Bluetooth, 1.3 megapixel camera and audio and video playback really isn't too shabby for a knockoff, and neither is that 2.4-inch 176 x 220 touchscreen if you don't break the cheap plastic stylus at your first go. Unfortunately, the GSM phone is of the 900 / 1800 MHz persuasion, so Stateside KIRFers will have to look elsewhere.

It seems like mock-ups come by the boatload, especially when it comes to the iPhone. Staying with our KIRF tradition, we bring you the simulated iPhone. This little gem popped up a few days ago on IPart.com's website and amazingly enough, they even label it as a copy. C'mon now, like you didn't know that it was fake? Judging by the pictures, it looks to be the same size as the current Nano, only a little bit thicker. Thankfully, they included a touch screen, handwriting recognition, and a 2 megapixel camera. If anyone decides to pick this up, drop us a line and let us know what you think of it.

[Thanks, Jason S.]

We all know the Korean companies raging against the Chinese knockoff artists aren't exactly innocent of taking "design inspiration" themselves. As soon as one comes up with an original design, the other knocks it off and vice versa until it spins out of control into hideously mutated 10 megapixel cameraphones. But one thing you won't see them do is admit it -- until now. We're lacking hard detail on the assuredly pride-crushing debacle, but according to Telecoms Korea, in an interview with Korean publication Yonhap News Samsung fessed up to plagiarizing the menu icons and design work in their SCH-V890 and SPH-V8900 handsets from none other than Cupertino's finest. Not that anyone should really be surprised or anything that a company knocked off Apple's design, but you know what they say about the steps to recovery: the first step is admission that you have a problem.