Is an iPhone too expensive for you? Then try the latest Chinese invention, a leather "skin" that will allow you to turn the iPod touch, a portable media player, into an iPhone in seconds.

The product includes a battery, a built-in aerial, a microphone, a receiver and a SIM card slot to give an iPod touch all the features of an iPhone. Even a camera can be added to the skin.

Online stores selling the skin charge a 40 yuan to 100 yuan deposit to pre-order. The price has not yet been announced, but sellers said it would range from 300 yuan to 500 yuan (US$ 44-74), depending on quality, color and weight.

But Shanghai lawyer Wang Zhan said the invention would violate the Patent Law if the inventor hadn't gained permission from the iPod's producer, Apple Inc, as the inventor was creating its own products on the basis of Apple's product.

Online sellers said they didn't know whether the inventor, Shenzhen-based Yanshen Company, had sent the skin to Apple for their permission.

Apple China would not comment yesterday and it was not possible to make contact with Yanshen.

The cover skin, called Apply Skin 520, is available for pre-order from a Shanghai company on Taobao.com and the store has received 82 orders since Sunday.

A Shenzhen-based online store, which began pre-selling on July 27, has received 227 orders so far.

The first batch is expected to be on the market soon. The Shenzhen company has completed testing and is now looking for factories to mass-produce the product.

The invention attracted a lot of attention on the Internet after a video was uploaded on Tudou.com. The video demonstrated the whole process of using the skin by simply wrapping it around an iPod touch, plugging a connector into the iPod's port, inserting a SIM card, and then using it as you would an iPhone.

One online seller said the invention could save Apple fans a lot of money as the cheapest iPhone sold by China Unicom was 4,999 yuan, but an iPod touch with skin would only cost around 2,000 yuan in total.

The seller claimed that its battery could support 6 hours of continuous talking and 120 hours in standby mode.

It is understood that a method to allow users to surf the Internet via GPRS is being worked on.

The skin is, in effect, a mini shanzhai mobile phone.

Shanzhai is a Chinese word that refers to a Chinese imitation or pirated product designed and produced by technicians at some private companies.

Shanzhai goods are gaining in popularity as many of them have fashionable exteriors, powerful functions, and most importantly, are much cheaper than branded goods.