A Chinese news Web site has posted pictures that it claims show the iPhone model being tested for release in China, adding to expectations that the phone will launch there soon.
The pictures were posted on Chinese portal Sina.com.cn on Friday morning and showed an iPhone with simplified Chinese characters in its display and inscribed on the back of the handset. Simplified characters are used in mainland China and Singapore, but Singaporean iPhones don't have Chinese inscription on the case. (Hong Kong and Taiwan use more complex traditional characters)
The iPhone in the pictures also carries China's "Environmental Protection Use Period" mark, which indicates the number of years of normal operation during which hazardous or toxic substances included in the product will not leak or change in a way that harms the environment or human health. In the case of the iPhone pictured that length of time is 10 years.
Sina.com.cn later [[xref:http://tech.sina.com.cn/t/3g/2009-07-31/00393311310.shtml|replaced|
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