Knockoff iPod and iPhone products have been making their way across Asia for years, so perhaps it’s no surprise that counterfeiters are moving on to the latest low-hanging fruit: iPad accessories. Earlier today, a Chinese manufacturer sent out e-mails offering the “iPad Fling game controller”—the same Fling released in January as a transparent, flexible tactile screen add-on for the iPad by developer Ten One Design—on a wholesale basis.
Ten One has confirmed that the accessories being offered by the Shenzhen-based manufacturer are counterfeits. “Sometimes I like to think of this as a disreputable compliment, but mostly it’s just a hassle to police on eBay,” Ten One’s Peter Skinner said in an e-mail to iLounge.
Notably, the email from the manufacturer used not only the Fling name, but promotional images from Ten One showing the product in use. The original product sells for $20; the clone is offered with a seemingly duplicated carrying pouch for between $6 and $9.20, depending on quantity.