As anyone who has followed the Optimus Maxiumus saga will know, after a while people get sick & tired of renders and want to see the real thing.  Up until now, we've only had digitally-created images of Meizu's range of iPhone-clones, but now there are leaked photos of the iPod Touch lookalike handset the M9 M8 to prove that it isn't just a designers folly.  Update: the device is a mockup, bizarrely not even using the final production materials. 

The M9 is, predictably, the follow-up to the M8, and differs from its predecessor by virtue of a matte black plastic body as opposed to the M8's aluminium frame.  Given that the device has been confirmed a pre-production mockup, not using the official materials it eventually will be produced in, there's no reason to presume this is a different model from the M8.  It's expected to launch in 2009 - presumably with the same non-MultiTouch touchscreen as earlier models - although it could be a China-only product due in no small part to Apple's seething legal teams.

[via SlashPhone]