Items tagged with Xiaomi
It still remains to be seen whether there's a lasting, lucrative market for smartwatches, though when it comes to devices like fitness trackers, there are plenty of buyers. This is evidenced by Fitbit taking the lead in a wearables segment that's just seen its eight consecutive quarter of steady growth around the globe, according to data compiled by International Data Corporation. Fitbit maintained its momentum from the fourth quarter of 2014 right on into the first quarter of 2015, the latter of which was boosted by the release of three new devices -- Charge, Charge HR, and the Surge. There also remains demand for Fitbit's older Flex wristband and One and Zip clip-on models. "Bucking the post-holiday...
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In mid-March, we first brought you news that Microsoft and Xiaomi were looking to get Mi 4 smartphone owners the opportunity to leave Android behind and test out the Windows 10 operating system for smartphones (now known as Windows 10 Mobile). “This partnership will allow Xiaomi and Microsoft to get direct user feedback and continue to improve the experience for China,” said Microsoft at the time. “Microsoft is thrilled to see Xiaomi embracing Windows 10 and offering this great value to their customers. We’re excited to see the feedback we receive from this audience.” It looks a though Microsoft and Xiaomi are moving on to the next phase in their relationship, as Xiaomi is now calling for beta...
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Chinese handset maker Xiaomi has a penchant for putting out great looking smartphones, and that talent is once again on display with the Mi 4i, a sleek looking device with a 5-inch Full HD 1080p (1920x1080; 440 pixels per inch) In-Plane Switching (IPS) display that boats 95 percent coverage of the NTSC color space. Launched today in New Dehli, the Mi 4i is a mid-range handset that costs 12,999 Indian Rupees, or around $205 in U.S. currency. It sports a pretty decent spec sheet for the price -- second generation Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 Octa-Core 64-bit processor clocked at 1.7GHz with Adreno 405 graphics, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, 5-megapixel...
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This has truly been a great week for those that are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Windows 10. We’ve learned about efforts to more efficiently store data through the use of file compression and new ways to unlock your devices using biometric hardware. Today, we’re learning that a tiny slither of the Android community will get a chance to test our Windows 10 on their smartphones. Microsoft announced today that a “select group” of Xiaomi Mi 4 “power users” will given the opportunity to help test Windows 10. What makes this intriguing is that the Windows 10 will apparently overwrite the existing Android ROM that comes preloaded on each smartphone. Microsoft provided the following statement to TechCrunch...
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Apple was late to the phablet game with the launch of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus in September 2014. Samsung arguably created the phablet category three years prior, when it introduced the original 5.3-inch Galaxy Note. But despite its late arrival to the party, manufacturers are painting a big red target on the iPhone 6 Plus, and Xiaomi is the latest to take aim. The hard-charging Chinese OEM today announced its new Mi Note flagship smartphone that features a 5.7-inch 1080p display in its standard configuration. Other features include a Snapdragon 801 processor with 3GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), two-tone flash, and a 3000 mAh battery. The Mi Note even...
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The funny thing about the mobile industry is that the landscape can change in the blink of an eye. Just ask HTC, the once dominant company that helped popularize Android and reaped multiple record-breaking quarters for its efforts, only to be rendered an also-ran against the likes of Samsung and Apple. There's a similar story for BlackBerry, which these days is struggling to regain relevance in the mobile market. And if we're to take a snapshot of the mobile world today, we'd see Samsung contending with disappointing sales while privately owned Xiaomi Technology is starting to make a bigger name for itself. The Chinese company is also starting to make more money -- Xiaomi...
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For the past four months, Taiwanese regulators have been conducting an investigation into Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone brands for being in breach of local data protection laws. On Tuesday, the National Communications Commissions announced that all accused companies were innocent, according to its findings. A report released by the NCC revealed that the investigation into 12 brands, which also included Chinese company Xiaomi, concluded that these companies and their products did not violate the law. However, NCC official James Lou added that the commissions would request that mobile phone makers take steps to make information transmission more secure. Image Credit: Xiaomi...
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In its latest round of fund-raising, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was able to raise $1.1 billion. Because of its successful fund-raising efforts, the company announced that it is now valued at $45 billion. The revelation means that the company is now one of the most valuable venture-backed tech startups to date. That lofty figure means that Xiaomi is now more valuable than companies such as Sony and Nokia. To add to its winning streak, Xiaomi has already become the number one smartphone OEM in the Chinese market smartphone overtaking Samsung. It is also the world’s third largest smartphone maker.Founded in 2010, Xiaomi’s success has been attributed to the company...
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Last week, we brought you a review of the Galaxy Note Edge, Samsung's new Galaxy Note derivative with a curved edge display along one side. Reviews on the device have been generally strong (we're fond of it, if the form factor and capabilities meet your liking), but one common complaint about the Note Edge is that the titular curved edge is only on one side of the phone. If you hold your phone in your right hand, the edge works well. If you hold it in your left, it actually degrades the experience of using the device. Now, Xiaomi is apparently planning to offer a dual-edged phone -- neatly knocking that problem out for potential converts and putting pressure on Samsung's flagship devices. The...
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Xiaomi has a success story most companies can only dream of. Despite having been founded only in 2010, the company is already a major player in the mobile market, with the likes of Samsung finding that out the hard way. One of the reasons Xiaomi has proven so successful is that it's delivered great hardware at great prices, and while that's an equally great thing for consumers, it's taken a bit of a toll - we reported just last week that the company is currently operating on a 1.8% profit margin. Despite all that, the future of the company looks very, very bright, especially after word that investors are planning to infuse $1 billion into the company. A handful of firms are said to be responsible...
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Chinese smartphone OEM Xiaomi has been kicking ass and taking names during the past year. In the Chinese market, Xiaomi displaced Samsung to become the country’s top-selling smartphone vendor during Q2. And thanks to some combo blows from both Xiaomi and Huawei, Samsung has been sent running for cover as it attempts to reinvent its smartphone lineup and cut costs across the board. “I believe that no one thought the Xiaomi from three years ago, which just made its first phone, would later rank as the third largest player,” said Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun at China’s World Internet Conference last month. “Within five or 10 years, we have the opportunity to become the number one smartphone company in the...
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It seems that smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, and other companies have violated Taiwan’s privacy laws by collecting and sending back user data to company servers. Back in September, Taiwan’s National Communications Commission launched an investigation regarding cyber security threat concerns over products from foreign manufacturers. NCC vice chairman Yu Hsiao-Cheng spoke at a legislative session held on Thursday, revealing that the commission had discovered problems with 12 phone models. “Almost every one of them will register with their company’s server," he said, but didn’t expand upon any specific issues. The investigation was launched in response to media reports that smartphones...
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A couple of weeks ago, reports hit the Web claiming that Chinese phone maker Xiaomi was sending user info back to home base. At the time, the company's head of global expansion, ex-Googler Hugo Barra, claimed that no such thing was going on. But late last week, Finnish security firm F-Secure posted proof to the Web that certain information was in fact being sent back to Xiaomi's servers. As a very reputable security company, F-Secure's information really struck a chord with many. In F-Secure's experiments, it was discovered that a device's phone number, IMEI number (similar to a serial code), and phone numbers from contacts saved to the device were sent to Xiaomi's servers. To conduct this experiment,...
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In the western hemisphere, the name Xiaomi is not likely to ring many bells, but in China, the company has become an absolute powerhouse. It's interesting, then, to realize that the company's name is a little ironic. Broken down to Xiao and Mi, it directly translates from Mandarin as "small rice". With the company having been founded in 2010 and currently staffs over 3,000 workers, there's certainly nothing "tiny" about Xiaomi. Thanks to the company's continual growth and a stellar Q2, where it shipped 15 million units, Xiaomi has surpassed Samsung in China to become the nation's largest smartphone vendor. Perhaps I should mention again that Xiaomi was only founded four years ago. The company's...
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It seems hard to fathom at this point, but there was actually a time when it wasn't certain if a tablet market could exist outside of Apple's iPad. Once low-cost Android tablets started to roll out (as opposed to Android tablets priced the same as the iPad), consumers reacted in a big way. Fast forward to today and we're staring at an emerging wearables market that has yet to gain major traction, though perhaps Xiaomi's announcement of a $13 fitness band will get things going. That's right -- Xiaomi's "Mi Band," as it's called, is a measly $13. Xiaomi announced the product on its Facebook page, noting that it can unlock your phone without a password. Other tricks include fitness level monitoring,...
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If there was any doubt that Chinese smartphone and tablet maker Xiaomi was the real deal, have a look at the company’s sales numbers for the first half of the year. Hugo Barra, who left Google and his position on the Android team last year to become Xiaomi Global’s Vice President, posted on Google+ that sales have exploded. “In H1 2014, we shipped about 26 Million phones globally, with revenues of about USD 5.3 billion,” he wrote. Those 26 million handsets represent a 271% jump of the company’s shipments over the same time period in 2013 as well as a 149% blast in revenue. Xiaomi Mi3 Those are serious numbers. Obviously that sort of growth isn’t sustainable,...
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Xiaomi announced a new, relatively inexpensive Android tablet yesterday called the MiPad, and NVIDIA has made sure to bang the drum for the new device as it has the company’s Tegra K1 SoC inside, and NVIDIA talked up Xiaomi as a company, too. “Fast. Xiaomi does everything fast,” wrote NVIDIA’s Will Park in a company blog post. “Its Tegra 4-powered Mi3 was the world’s fastest phone at launch. They’re growing fast, too: Xiaomi is now one of the world’s largest smartphone vendors. And now, they’re the first to build a tablet with our out-of-this-world fast Tegra K1 mobile processor.” The Tegra K1 mobile processor (the “K” is...
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As if things weren't buzzing enough out in Berlin this week, the folks at NVIDIA continue the relentless barrage of announcements in the mobile arena, with a joint unveiling and some kudos by way of a design win for their new Tegra 4 SoC. Tegra 4 is destined for devices well beyond NVIDIA's own SHIELD gaming handheld. In fact, ASUS stepped out with the Tegra 4-powered Transformer Pad TF701T just yesterday and today Xiaomi steps out with the 5-inch Mi3 (MiPhone 3) Android smartphone. Here in the US Xiaomi might not roll right off the tongue but the Chinese manufacturer is making some serious inroads as of late and attracting top talent to boot. Xiaomi Mi3 Smartphones with NVIDIA's...
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Xiaomi isn't a brand you're likely to be familiar with if you live in the United States, but there are a couple of reasons why that might change in the coming months. First, Google's ex-VP of Android, Hugo Barra, just tendered his resignation to become VP of Xiaomi Global. His face became a familiar fixture at press events and Google's annual I/O developer conference. Secondly, Xiaomi last month launched its least expensive smartphone yet, called Red Rice. Qzone, a social networking website operated by Tencent, got its hands on the first 100,000 models produced. The phone sells for RMB799, or $130 USD, and no, Xiaomi isn't taking a loss on the hardware. According to TrendForce, the Red Rice phone...
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Google is losing one of its major figure heads for the Android the platform. After nearly five years at Google and almost three and a half years serving the Android team, Hugo Barra tendered his resignation as he embarks on a "new career chapter" in China, Barra announced on his Google+ page late last night. "In a few weeks, I'll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally -- as Vice President, Xiaomi Global," Barra stated. "I'm really looking forward to this new challenge, and am particularly excited about the opportunity to continue to help drive the Android ecosystem." Barra's seemingly sudden departure comes amid questionable...
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