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Shopping for iFauxnes

CNET picks out some fake iPhones while mobile shopping in Europe.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
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Kent German
Nope, this iPhone is not the real thing. Vladimir Olexa/CNET Networks

Like a scourge of weeds, fake iPhones popped up en masse as soon as Apple announced its original handset. Most of the time these "iFauxnes" are easy to spot, but sometimes they'll look so much like the real thing that you'll need to turn them on to spot the fakery.

As the home of Apple, and the first country to get the original iPhone, the United States has not been friendly territory for the imitators. But in countries that have yet to get the iPhone (or are just getting it), the fakes are more common.

Recently, CNET software engineer Vladimir Olexa spotted a few fake iPhones in a mobile store in Slovakia. He managed to snap a few pictures, which we've assembled in a fake iPhone slide show. As we said before, some are obvious but others come close to the real thing.

Editors' note: The iPhone launched in Slovakia on the Orange network on August 22.