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A year ago we were perfectly content with tech toys that are made in China, and designed by China. Now look how far we’ve come. A lot has changed in China’s gadget world in 2011, and being the tech fanatics that we are, we’d like to take a moment and look back at the standout made-in-China products of 2011, from the most affordable Ice Cream Sandwich tablet produced to some of the cool gadgets you shouldn’t have missed. Sit back and enjoy!
1. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Music Player
Introducing the Android Robot Music Player, which looks really like an Android and helps you enjoy your music collection in the goofiest way possible. It reads your music collection through a micro SD, and it comes with a 4-watt speaker that is located underneath its butt. When the music is playing, the Android’s “neck” will light up, and it will change colors by rotating the head. With every turn of the head you get to see a different color. Colors also change when the music is paused. You can pause a music track by pressing the head of the robot. To resume, press it again. Interesting huh? That’s why we’ve chosen this as the most phenomenal made-in-china music player of 2011.
Editor’s note: There’s a robotic music player that we would love to introduce to you. It can dance to your music, and acts as a party machine. You will love it.
2. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Arcade Cabinet
During an amusement trade show in China, a company called Shunxiang Technology placed several arcades fully decorated with Plants Vs. Zombies theme without any authorization from Popcap, the creator of many popular casual titles, such as Bejeweled, Peggle, Zuma and Plants Vs. Zombies. The “arcade” version is a little different from the version you are playing, it uses a 4 player joystick where each player controls a plant turret that they use to shoot the zombies as they walk, hop and fly back and forth. You can check out a video showing how the Chinese are playing the completely unauthorized Plants Vs Zombies arcade cabinet that will likely never be seen stateside.
3. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Paper Gadgets For China’s Dead
In China, we have a festival which is for the Chinese to offer sacrifices of food or money to the ancestors, and that typically involves burning things their ancestors “may need” in afterlife. Following the tradition, paper versions of money, luxury items, and consumer electronics are burned as offerings to the dead. As the iPad 2 and iPhone are the most popular gadgets on our planet, the Chinese are spending 10 yuan (about $2) to buy a paper version of iPad 2, and burn it for their ancestors. These paper gadgets are available for sale to people both online and at various retail locations. With one of the shopkeepers said, his stock of 300 paper iPad 2s featuring 888GB capacity (an auspicious number in Chinese culture) sold out quickly, leaving him unable to meet demand. Well, we think it’s really extraordinary to see paper versions of iPod nano, Sony PS3, PSP, Nintendo Wii, DSi, Leica D-LUX 4, etc.
4. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Portable Gaming System
Okay, if Microsoft actually made a portable gaming system, it would look like this. Known as the iReadyGo RG, this shameless rip-off features 3 things — iPhone skin, Xbox 360 controller buttons, and PSP design. It packs a 5-inch touchscreen, a 1GHz Cortex-A8 CPU, 720p camera, HDMI-out, and video playback compatibility for MP4, WMV, AVI, and many more. But what’s most interesting is that this thing is actually an Android-powered device. The verdict? I just wish Microsoft was mass producing them.
5. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Cellphone Strap
This cute little Olympus PEN is a free gift featured in a popular fashion magazine in Hong Kong. It looks like a toy, and in fact, it’s a cute little cellphone strap for Olympus PEN fanboys. In our hands-on review, we think it’s 10 times smaller than the real thing. The most interesting thing that we found on this tiny gadget is the lens. Why? Because it is interchangeable, works just like a real camera!
6. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. iPad Accessory
Imagine you can disguise your iPad 2 as a MacBook Air with just an accessory — the Aluminum Keyboard Buddy Case. At first sight, it looks like a keyboard, but taking another look, you will find it is similarly shaped to the iPad 2 itself, with a curved aluminum back and an almost full-sized QWERTY keyboard, complete with keys to control iPad functions like media playback and brightness. When you place the iPad and the keyboard face-to-face, the built-in magnets will automatically put your iPad to sleep, and your friends may think that’s a MacBook Air sitting on your coffee table. Cool.
7. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Mobile Phone
You would not believe this. Some Chinese rip-off merchants were not happy with the Nokia N9 dying with Meego. So, they crafted a N9 lookalike that runs 7 different OS — iOS 5.0, HTC Sense, Windows Phone 7, BlackBerry, Samsung’s TouchWiz, Meego, and Symbian Anna. So, if you are a person who likes the iPhone’s clean and simple UI with no widgets, you can just switch to the iOS UI on the bogie. This $64 N9 knockoff also features dual SIM slots, but users will have a few misgivings about the lack of functioning apps and the blurry 1.3MP rear camera. Anyway, just imagine… 7 OS for 7 days of the week. That really made a statement.
8. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Bicycle
Do you think weaving through the traffic with your bike makes you look like an idiot when there’s a Ferrari overtaking you? Well, get this two-wheeler from China. It features a full-sized keyboard, some big green and red buttons and a GPS navigation device on its handlebars. And do you see that radiation warning sticker under the seat? Yeah, that seat is phenomenal. It is actually a plutonium-powered seat warmer that let your hiney stay warm. But we think this bike is not for sale, it’s definitely a DIY work. Pure genius.
9. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. iPhone Accessory
With 15 Chinese yuan ($2.40), you can grab this weirdly awesome accessory for the iPhone… or perhaps other gadgets. What the hell is this? It is a mutated 3-in-1 Apple Dock Connector to USB Cable, featuring three connectors — a mini USB, a micro USB and a 30-pin dock connector. So, what’s that going to mean is if you do have an Android phone and an iPhone, you can charge them both together with this USB cable!
10. Most Phenomenal M.I.C. Ice Cream Sandwich Tablet
Ever since Google released Android 4.0 source code to the public, it is for sure 2012 will be the year of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) tablets, and we believe Chinese electronics firms who have been manufacturing portable video players will take this opportunity to go wild. Ainol, a well-known Chinese video and mp3 player maker has introduced a surprisingly cheap ICS tablet named Novo 7 Paladin. How cheap? Just $99!!! It packs a 7-inch (800×480) touchscreen display, runs on a 1GHz single-core MIPS based XBurst CPU (a low power, low performance CPU that’s used in a number of dirt cheap mini-laptops) paired with a Vivante GC860 GPU, and comes with Wi-Fi support, USB 2.0 connectivity, and microSD slot for the expansion of memory. Its phenomenal price and satisfactory specs have really amazed us.
Editor’s note: Here’s a list of Chinese branded 7-inch tablets that have the potential to take on the Kindle Fire and Apple’s rumored “iPad mini”.
Here are some other really, really good made-in-China gadgets:
Which is your favorite gadget? We hope we can bring you more interesting Chinese made gadgets to you guys this year. Stay tuned on us!
Been under a rock? See what else happened this year in our Best of 2011 series.
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