stacka -read the article from SFGATE that basically called Peter Michaels a scammer extraordinare.
Stolen Nokia technology and disguised Nokia phones were the phones Hop-On was trying to pass-off as their own "invention".
Looks like the disguised Nokia phone was basically fraud and hop-on got caught.
HOP-ON never had a hop-on booth at another CES show after that. They would be laughed out of the convention as a scam company with a felon CEO.
............
Sample 'new' cell phone really just modified Nokia
March 29, 2002|By Todd Wallack, Chronicle Staff Writer
Hop-On.com's new disposable cell phone, touted everywhere from Time Magazine to CNNfn as a landmark innovation, may be less original than it seems.
In news releases and interviews, the publicly traded California company says it has developed and manufactured an "innovative, technologically advanced" phone so cheap that customers can toss it away when they are done. Hop-On says the phone will retail for $30, including 60 minutes of calls.
But after cracking open several samples with Hop-On's name and kangaroo logo, The Chronicle found the "revolutionary" device appeared to be little more than a jury-rigged Nokia in a new plastic shell.Underneath the red plastic casing, one sample was clearly labeled inside as a "Nokia 8260."
Another Hop-On cell phone contained a part with Cingular Wireless' name and logo. Cingular spokeswoman Monica Mears said the part, called a SIM card, came from a batch of 100 Nokia 8290s it sold Hop-On last year. A white rechargeable battery in the phone also looks identical to one used in Nokias, though the name has been etched off. Only the circled R, denoting a registered trademark, remains.
"All the components that make it work are ours," said Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak. Nokia, which examined the samples at The Chronicle's request, said it is considering whether to take action against Hop-On.
Hop-On Chief Executive Officer Peter Michaels was initially evasive when asked why the phones appeared to be modified Nokias. "Hop-On technology is proprietary," he said in a faxed reply.
But after The Chronicle explained its findings in greater detail, Michaels said the repackaged Nokias were "promotional samples only. They are not Hop-On production phones."
Michaels explained that the Garden Grove (Orange County) company was forced to use Nokias to produce the samples because of glitches with its own invention. "We had to scratch one of our designs," he said. Michaels, however, insists Hop-On is working out the bugs. "We are light years ahead of anyone," he said.
Still, even if Hop-On used the modified Nokias only to show off its concept, an industry analyst said Hop-On should have clearly disclosed that fact.
"I think (to call it) misleading would be putting it lightly," said Allen Nogee, a wireless components analyst with Cahners In-Stat, a technology research firm in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Moreover, the disclosure raises questions about whether Hop-On will be able to launch an ultracheap wireless phone anytime soon.
