Though it should hardly come as a shock to readers familiar with our Keepin' it real fake series, RIM might be surprised to find a bounty of BlackBerry-alikes as they enter the mainland Chinese market, undercutting a source of otherwise significant new revenue as millions of new folks discover the addictive devices for the first time. Though unlicensed knockoff manufacturers typically don't fly in the US or Western Europe, Reuters points out that it can cost as little as $125K to bring one online in China -- a compelling proposition in one of the world's hottest mobile markets. What's more, they're finding that some Chinese are buying BlackBerrys strictly for their, uh, sound quality and good looks (can ya believe it?) but are bypassing China Mobile's email hookup entirely, citing it as overpriced. Could the BlackBerry end up a boon for customers in the world's most populous country, yet a bust for RIM?

[Thanks, David]

T-Mobile's launched a new service aimed at parents looking to placate their kid's incessant begging for a cellphone, but still maintain some control over how much they use it. kidConnect will give kids unlimited weekend minutes and a set number of "whenever minutes" (50 under the $19.99/month plan, with parents able to buy more) after which the service is cut off so they don't run up the bill -- kids can also trade in their whenever minutes for text message credits, although those'll dry up pretty quick at 4 text messages per minute. Regardless of how many minutes they use, however, they'll always be able to call their parents phone, or call 911. And unlike the myriad of other kids' cellphones, kidConnect will work with any T-Mobile phone, which we're guessing most kids would prefer anyway.

[Via Slashphone]