Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has confirmed unbundling the requisite charger from its upcoming Mi 11 smartphone after it was openly mocking Apple on social media for doing precisely the same thing with the new iPhone 12 smartphone lineup.
Xiaomi announced its new Mi CC9 smartphone earlier this month, and, along with it, showcased a new feature it calls "Mimoji" -- a direct rip-off of Apple's own Memoji, leaning heavily on the familiar art style utilized by Apple.
Apple has had Memoji, its own brand of 3D avatars, for quite some time already. Long enough that Xiaomi has apparently decided it's about time to copy Apple's effort.
Chinese consumer electronics vendor Xiaomi doesn't shy away from copying Apple's design style and their latest AirPods rival, called Mi AirDots Pro, is no exception.
Apple has scored a partial victory in its case against Chinese consumer electronics maker Xiaomi involving attempts to trademark the name of their iPad mini clone.
Chinese consumer electronics and smartphone maker Xiaomi has acquired a swathe of patents from Nokia. According to an announcement yesterday, the multi-year patent agreement includes a cross license to each company's cellular standard essential patents.
Xiaomi also acquired patent assets from Nokia for an undisclosed sum as part of the transaction. Since its inception seven years ago, the Chinese firm has applied for over 16,000 patents, of which about 4,000 have been granted to them.
“Our win-win patent agreement with Nokia after months of negotiations is a significant milestone for Xiaomi,” Wang Xian, Xiaomi's Senior Vice President, wrote on Twitter.
The two firms will also co-operate on a wide range of strategic projects, including network infrastructure, optical transport solutions for datacenter interconnect, IP routing based on Nokia's newly announced FP4 network processor and a data center fabric solution.
The companies will join forces to “explore” VR and AI technologies, too.
The latest move gives the Chinese startup access to some cool Nokia technologies while providing legal shelter from possible lawsuits as Xiaomi looks to expand internationally.
The company's smartphone shipments declined 15.6 percent to 61 million units in 2016, down from a peak of 70 million units in 2015. Xiaomi has pledged to build a thousand retail stores in China by 2019 to ramp up sales.
In May, Nokia signed a similar deal with Apple following licensing disputes in the US and Europe which eventually led to the removal of Nokia's Withings-branded products from Apple Stores. Putting an end to all litigation, the Apple-Nokia multi-year patent license also entails providing “certain network infrastructure products and services" to Apple.
Windows maker Microsoft's new “Always Connected PCs” initiative focuses on helping computer manufacturers bring to market LTE-enabled notebooks that incorporate eSIM technology (not to be confused with Apple SIM). The company said at the Computex 2017 show this morning in Taipei that it will partner with PC vendors, carriers and chip makers like Intel and Qualcomm on the new initiative.
Created a year ago by Apple, Samsung and other players, these SIMs are embedded directly into a device and cannot be removed. But perhaps more important than that, eSIMs are universally compatible with all carriers and as such allow customers to sign up for a wireless service right on their device.
First LTE-enabled Windows notebooks featuring eSIM technology (via Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chipset) are on the way from ASUS, HP and Lenovo, said Microsoft. These new Intel x86-based devices will feature Windows 10, always-on LTE connectivity and “great battery life”.
Huawei, VAIO and Xiaomi are committed to Always Connected PCs using eSIM technology, too.
“There is a new generation of users that need to be connected to the cloud at all times. They are students, creators, freelancers, small businesses and enterprises,” said the Redmond firm.
“This means sharing experiences across screens and leveraging the latest network technology like gigabit LTE and eSIM.”
The eSIM standard works virtually anywhere in the world, meaning customers are able to switch carrier instantly, no paperwork or a physical SIM card required whatsoever. Apple owns a patent for an LTE-enabled MacBook with wireless antennas integrated within a hinge mechanism, as depicted on the patent drawing below.
Updated Mac notebooks are expected at WWDC next week, according to Bloomberg.
Ahead of the WWDC keynote, an Apple regulatory filing in Russia has identified five unreleased Mac notebooks, plus a next-generation Magic Keyboard and new iPad Pro models.
It's unclear if these refreshed MacBooks will feature embedded LTE connectivity, but if a next-generation MacBook with an eSIM is lying around somewhere in Jony Ive's basement now would be a good time to bring it to market.
Chinese gadget maker Xiaomi Technology, also known as the Apple of China, has sent out invitations for a media event to be held on February 28. The company is expected to announce a new entry-level handset rocking a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen, a thirteen-megapixel camera out the back and an eight-megapixel selfie camera out the front.
The phone is expected to be priced at 1,299 yuan unlocked, or about $190. Additionally, Xiaomi is likely to unveil a pair of in-house developed CPUs at the event, DigiTimes says.
When former Android executive Hugo Barra announced three days ago he was leaving Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, he provided standard boilerplate explanation: he wanted to spend more time with his family because living and working abroad has taken a toll on his health and life.
Then again, that's exactly the kind of stuff that you'd expect high-ranking executives to say when jumping ship or seeking greener pastures with another team.
As it turns out, Barra is leaving Xiaomi not because he's burned out but to join Facebook where he will be charged with managing the Oculus team and the company's other virtual reality projects, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced yesterday.
Hugo Barra, who used to be Google's senior executive in charge of Android before leaving the Internet giant for Xiaomi in August 2013, announced on his Facebook profile that he's leaving the Chinese handset maker. He'll be returing to Silicon Valley in February after the Chinese New Year to spend more time with friends and family.
As Vice President of Xiaomi's International unit, Barra was responsible for making the company's Mi handsets available in more countries globally.
Xiaomi has yet to start selling its products in the United States.
Xiaomi (pronounced “sh-YEOW-mee”), a booming Chinese smartphone and consumer electronics maker, today took the wraps off its first-ever Windows PC notebook and it looks awfully familiar to the MacBook Air. The familiarity starts with the device's silly 'Mi Notebook Air' moniker and extends to its unibody industrial design that's thinner and lighter than Apple's notebook.
Offered in 12.5 and 13.3-inch varieties, the product matches and—in terms of graphics, lightness and thinness—one-ups the MacBook Air while costing half as much. Xiaomi's new notebooks run Windows 10 and will hit store shelves in China on August 2.
Xiaomi, the ambitious consumer electronics maker from China, is about to release a consumer drone of its own at a media event scheduled for next week.
Writing on its official blog, the Chinese firm said that its first-ever flying machine, a quadricopter, would take off next Wednesday, May 25. A dramatic device image was shared as part of the tease.