14 DAY TRIAL // While we don't yet know too much about Apple's forthcoming iPad 2 tablet (apart from the fact that we should expect it to hit in April, according to Taiwanese sources), we're already seeing certain products that could be described as iPad 2 “clones” being released in China, the Skyworth Skypad M5 being one of them. As GizInChina points out, the reason why this thing can be considered a “clone” of “knock-off” is that its overall design seems to be somewhat of a mixture between the current-generation iPad and the iPhone 4, while also resembling quite closely some of the supposed iPad 2 leaked designs that hit the Internet lately.
However, while the exterior of the Skypad M5 is indeed inspired by Apple's products, its hardware configuration is actually quite different, starting from the 8-inch, 800 x 480 pixels capacitive touch screen and continuing with the operating system of choice, namely Android 2.1.
Similar to some of the other Internet tablets from China we've covered lately, the M5 is built around a Rockchip Rk2818 processor, accompanied by 256 MB of RAM memory and 2GB of internal Flash memory for storage purposes, making is powerful enough to run 720p videos in a very smooth manner.
Additionally, the device packs a built-in web camera module, as well as a Bluetooth module, while 3G connectivity is available separately, as an option.
Furthermore, carrying this thing around shouldn't prove to be much of a problem, given the fact that it measures 219 x 163 x 12.5mm and weighs around 502 grams.
Pricing for the Skyworth Skypad M5 has apparently been set at around 1980 Chinese Yuan (roughly 300 US dollars), which is not exactly a very small price, given the fact that the hardware configuration is not exactly stellar, not to mention the fact that 3G support is not included in the base price.
