This story is getting more interesting by the minute. We told you yesterday that Oqo.cc appears to be set to launch a Model 03 OQO UMPC in Q3 2010 (more specifically, August, according to the site). Now it looks like the official US OQO site (which hasn’t seen any updates since the company went out of business in April, 2009) has been tampered with.
According to a comment on the story on Engadget, the site was briefly updated with text at the bottom stating “We did not sell out to Audiotone. Anything by them is a Clone.” This text has since been removed, however a peculiar link on the site remains (which certainly wasn’t there yesterday before our story). At the bottom right of each page on the site, a single word, “Brains!” links to: http://www.brains4zombies.com/ which appears to be a parody page of Amazon, and is somehow connected to the web comic hosted at http://www.goats.com/.
A very odd hack if you ask me. I’m unsure of exactly what to make of this, but if you know something more about these sites than we do, definitely let us know in the comments.
August 3rd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
New article: Oqo.com Hacked in Response to Model 03 News? http://bit.ly/ab4MQy
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:37 pm
I m 99.9999% sure that was just the current maintainer of the OQO site offering his opinion on the bootleg Chinese ‘OQO’.
August 3rd, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I am sure picasso over at oqoasis and oqotalk maintains this oqo homepage.He has stated numerous times this chinese “oqo” is nothing to do with the original oqo,its just pure chinese plagarisim,surprised its taken them as long to get a cloned unit on the market and i expected it to be cheaper as well.
August 3rd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
RT @umpcportal: New article: Oqo.com Hacked in Response to Model 03 News? http://bit.ly/ab4MQy
August 3rd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Since the company OQO no longer exists I suppose it was easy pickings for a Chinese company to use the name. They certainly have no worries as far as any type of infringement, but it is a “bit” unethical. Picasso does indeed control the website, but that really isn’t an issue here because we are talking about China and ethics just doesn’t translate very well into Mandarin. As I have written before, the intended market is the big shot CEO with lots of cash to burn, not the folks at the table at”Dinner for Schmucks.” The lowest price model is more than the average Chinese city worker makes in a year. The % of people who might be able to afford this is infinitesimal. That brains site is pretty funny, and probably just a warning from Picasso to be smart. I’ll be in China later this year and if I find any I’ll certainly post (OQOs not brains!!!.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:43 pm
HI aekayser,just because oqo is no more it does not give companies the green light to steam ahead with a clone unit and then try to piggyback on oqo’s name.the bank still own the ip and i dare say some patents so it is an infringement at least,i will go with you on the point that its aimed at the chinese execs.maybe i am just annoyed my 2+ never made it into my hands and you will no doubt notice oqotalk is maybe not as active as it used to be,i thought about picking a pre production unit 2+ on ebay but just cant justify the outlay on something that has zero manufacturers support now,i know picasso can just about repair anything but its the battery issues that really let the oqo down,( 3 in the last year).
August 4th, 2010 at 1:04 am
qqq.oqo.com
-> bottom:
“The OQO 03 by Audiotone @http://oqo.cc/ is Clone/Copy ATTEMPT”
(unfortunately …)
August 4th, 2010 at 1:16 am
See the thread … Picasso and others:
http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,4945.msg39758.html#msg39758
August 4th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
Just catching up on this one. It really looks like a risky purchase, even if you’ve got the money. Not a purchase we’ll be recommending I think!
August 4th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I’m with you Chippy. No way I’d buy one, but if I can get hold of some batteries at a reasonable price then I’d go for it. I will be looking for the 03 when I get to China in December just to see if it exists. I’ll be in Shenyang and if I can’t find it there then it probably doesn’t exist. Shenyang is the electronics capital of China. And the knockoff capital of the known universe and beyond.
tam123 My point about infringement is that Chinese electronics manufacturers do not worry about infringement. I have a few iPhone clones that you cannot tell apart from the real thing. Plus, with OQO out of business there isn’t anyone to attempt to stop Audiotone from cloning the original. Sure it’s unethical…but we are talking China here.
August 4th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
i dont buy knockoffs and thats the point,they are getting that good at cloning it is almost immpossible to tell genuine from fake.if they called it something else then i would not take exception to it,you can tell from the chatter on oqotalk some people were actually wanting these.the chinese ethics dont bother me,its just the way its advertised as an oqo when its not.even though it will or could be made with highend components who is to say corners will not be cut if it goes mainstream,they have been cute with the high pricing which would indicate use of good materials,only time and a good look at the insides will tell.
August 5th, 2010 at 3:35 am
I agree. Buying one of them, even assuming you have that kind of money, would imply validating a steal.
August 5th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Oqo.com Hacked in Response to Model 03 News?: This story is gett Read more …
Related posts:Donations UMPCPorta… http://bit.ly/d5Yat4
August 5th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I know the use of the OQO name bothers many OQO owners, but face facts. If they were able to produce these and it worked and it was exported and could be bought for $250 people would be on it like white on rice. Audiotone will produce them, it will work, but the price is ridiculous and that makes it easy to be high and mighty about their business ethics. And remember, none of us know the behind the scenes negotiations between Audiotone and OQO. They may indeed have permission to manufacture these, unless we hear otherwise from former OQO ownership.
I own three OQOs, all of which were aftermarket/ebay sales. OQO never benefited financially from my purchases. To me that’s not stealing, but to the former owners of OQO who went broke, it paints a different picture.
I don’t support what Audiotone is doing, but this is common practice in China. To Westerners it’s a knockoff, to the Chinese it’s a way of life. Pfizer makes Viagra in China, as well as many other pharmaceuticals. Is it real???
August 5th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
At $4000+ something smelt fishy. Writing off my N5 using 3G while on the beach, the $800 that I paid for the N5 sounds reasonable. It’s a shame I heard the oqo2 was a great device, too bad the company is out of business.