Windows 10 Phones: Windows 10 For Phones Demoed On Android Device Xiaomi Mi 4 [Video]

A video of the Xiaomi Mi 4 smartphone running Windows 10 for phones has just been posted online, showing Microsoft’s OS running on a device that ships with Android out of the box. What is this wizardry? Head over the jump to find out more about this development and watch a video of the OS in action on the phone.
A few weeks back, Microsoft announced that as a part of its Windows Insider Program, it was stepping up its game concerning Windows 10 for phones by working with Xiaomi to provide power users a chance to experience Microsoft’s latest mobile OS on their device.

And now, a video has surfaced showing the entire thing in action. The three minute long video is entirely in Mandarin, so unless you speak the language, you’ll just have to focus on the visuals at hand. The OS does look surprisingly smooth given how the phone wasn’t really built for running Windows 10. Microsoft’s idea was to achieve this by throwing in a custom ROM to Mi 4 users who would be able to flash it onto their phones, which is exactly why it was intended for ‘power users’. Essentially, this replaced the existing Android OS on the device with a Windows 10 based ROM, giving users a native experience.
Given that this is the first instance of such an initiative seen on an Android device, and we can see how smooth the overall functionality is, the road ahead is looking pretty good for Microsoft’s latest mobile OS. We already know that the software giant has planned to make Windows 10 free for all smartphone and tablet sized devices, and by making such custom ROMs available to Android users, it looks to have figured out a way to penetrate a market that is dominated by Google’s mobile OS and Apple’s iOS.
Microsoft had already said during the announcement of this initiative that it would be looking to expand the program to more Android devices in the future as the responses from Xiaomi users come in.

(Source: WindowsBlogItalia [Google Translate])

Xiaomi may soon sell smartphones through its own portal in India

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi will start selling smartphones in India later this year through its own portal as it looks to beef up its presence in one of the world’s fastest growing devices market. Xiaomi, which currently sells devices in India through homegrown eCommerce major Flipkart, will bring in its website ‘Mi.com’ to India in the latter part of the year.

“We are currently looking for warehousing and logistics partners in India, as well as deciding on a payment mechanisms like cash on delivery. It may take anywhere between three to nine months,” Xiaomi India Head Manu Jain told PTI.

He added that the the Beijing-based firm will continue its association with Flipkart.

Currently, the company sells devices through its website in most countries of operations, except India and Indonesia.

Xiaomi on Thursday launched its new handset — Mi 4 — in India for Rs 19,999 as it seeks to expand its operations here.

“We have always stated that India is one of our most important markets. We are big plans for India this year… We are in process of signing the lease on a facility in Bangalore, which will be our R&D unit. This is the first one outside China,” Jain said.

India is one of the largest markets for Xiaomi outside of China. The company has so far, launched three devices in India, Mi 3, Redmi 1S and Redmi Note. The cumulative sales have crossed a million units since the first launch in July 2014.

According to research firm IDC, India is the fastest growing smartphone market in the Asia Pacific region with about 82 per cent growth in the July-September quarter of 2014 over the same period last year. The growth is being driven by increasing preference of consumers to upgrade to smartphones as well as shorter refresh cycles.

The shipments grew 82 percent year-on-year to 23.3 million units in the third quarter of this year, while it was higher by 27 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, IDC said in a statement.

Samsung was the leader in the smartphone market with 24 per cent share, followed by Micromax (20 per cent), Lava and Karbonn (8 per cent each) and Motorola (5 five per cent) in the third quarter of 2014.

Founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun, Xiaomi is often referred to as the ‘Apple of China’ and featured in Boston Consulting Group’s top 50 most innovative companies in the world list last year. It ranks at the third spot with 5.3 per cent share of the global shipment in the July-September 2014 quarter, after Samsung (23.8 per cent) and Apple (12 per cent).

PTI

Xiaomi’s $30 Android Media Streaming Box Is Small Enough To Fit In Any Pocket

So what do you get when you pack in an Android streaming device into a an extremely small package? Enter – the Mi Box mini from Xiaomi, a truly mini Android streaming device that looksexactly like your typical phone charger that can fit in any pocket. For a closer look at the product, head on after the jump.

The Mi Box mini is roughly one fourth the size of Xiaomi’s older Mi Box, but packs in 282 integrated components to make this device matter. Shaped as a charger, the unit even had foldable pins for powering it via any 110/220v power socket, where it can be easily mistaken for your usual USB phone brick.

Just recently, Xiaomi had announced a host of new devices, including the Mi Note, the Mi Note Pro, and a pair of on-ear headphones as well, but the Mi Box mini is bound to catch the consumer’s attention given the low $30 price tag.

At $30 all those performance and component questions will begin crowding up so let’s have a look at that. At the heart of this pocketable device, Xiaomi has packed in a quad-core 1.3GHz processor, and a 4+2 core Mali-450 GPU to deliver fluid performance. There’s a decent 1GB RAM with 4GB of onboard eMMC storage, along with Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band Wi-Fi, and support for Dolby and DTS audio standards.

Mi Box mini is running Android 4.4.2 and can be connected to any HDTV via the HDMI port. The device will support 1080p 3D video output, but no more. The larger sibling however supports 4K videos as well, and packs a USB port along with support for an additional microSD card. Well given the size, these features or in the case of Mi Box mini – the lack of them – is no surprise.

The device comes with its own hardware remote as well which is connected over Bluetooth to help you navigate through the menus. Coming in a variety of flashy colors such as orange, pink, sky blue, yellow, neon green, and red, Xiaomi has only brushed the underside with some paint, leaving the device an all-white. Sad.

According to Xiaomi, the Mi Box mini is set go on sale on the 20th of January in China, with no word on availability outside of the country as yet.

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• Xiaomi Mi Note And Mi Note Pro Phablets Announced, Here Are The Details

Xiaomi launches Mi Note Phablet to battle Note 4 and iPhone 6

Xiaomi is penetrating ruthlessly in its already established markets with specs filled budget devices and recently the company has announced yet another latest flagship Mi Note Phablet with an aim to target iPhone 6 and Note 4.

The handset sports a screen size of 5.7 inches with 1080 display. It runs on the latest Qulacomm snapdragon 801 with 2.5 GHz quad core processor having 3GB powerful RAM. There’s 16/64 GB internal space and it supports dual 4G SIM cards.

Its thickness is 6.95 mm and a design with curved glass on both front and back panels. The company refers to the front glass as “2.5D” and the rear glass as “3D.”

There’s 13 megapixels camera on the back while on the front, there is 4 megapixels camera with 2 micron pixel size, similar to that of HTC One ultra-pixels camera.

Xiaomi’s aggressive strategy to release budget friendly, yet feature filled smartphones is proving to be valuable for the company. Moreover the company unique style to sell their products online is also proving to be lucrative.

It will be interesting to see how this phablet will grab its fair share from iPhone 6 and Note 4. Xiaomi has already brought sufficient trouble for Korean Samsung in China but it would have to dip its toe outside India and China that have become Xiaomi’s strong hold.

And the company might face serious troubles to go mainstream in the countries where there are strict patent laws. As far as price is concerned, the 16 GB model costs around $360 while 64 GB variant is $430.

Xiaomi announces all-new Mi Note and Mi Note Pro: phones to challenge the best

At an event in Beijing today, Xiaomi has announced two new devices: the Xiaomi Mi Note and the Mi Note Pro. While the Mi Note is a relatively standard affair, the Mi Note Pro has just become the second device to ship with a 64-bit chip and 4 GB of RAM (following the launch of the AsusZenfone 2 last week at CES 2015).

Xiaomi has just announced the Mi Note and the Mi Note Pro. © Xiaomi

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The Xiaomi Mi Note Pro specs are basically a beast checklist, with internals to rival the LG G Flex 2– the only other device to currently be powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon 810, however, the Mi Note Pro rocks 4 GB of RAM. Up front the Mi Note Pro features a 5.7-inch QHD display with 2,560 x 1,440 pixel resolution and 515 pixels per inch.

There's 64 GB of on-board flash storage and Cat. 9 LTE, allowing download speeds of up to 450 Mbps. The Xiaomi Mi Note Pro is being priced at 3299 CNY, the equivalent of around 530 USD. Of course, simple conversions don't mean much, but the price doesn't look like it'll be too steep at all.

The Xiaomi Mi Note Pro is a serious contender in the high-end smartphone race this year. © Xiaomi

• The 64-bit chips you need to know about in 2015
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The Xiaomi Mi Note is a slightly less impressive affair, with a Full HD 5.7-inch display, Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5 GHz, 3 GB of RAM, 13 MP Sony shooter with Optical Image Stabilization, a 4 MP front-facing camera, 3D curved Gorilla Glass 3 (see diagram below) and 3,000 mAh battery with quick charging capabilities.

There are two versions of the Mi Note: a 16 GB version and a 64 GB version, priced at 2299 CNY and 2799 CNY respectively, the equivalent of roughly 370 USD and 450 USD. Although again, I'll remind you translating currencies is no simple matter of conversion.

The Xiaomi Mi Note is being heralded as a premium device, but it's not as premium as the Mi Note Pro. © Xiaomi

Besides a Q2 release in Singapore, there's no news yet on the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro release date further afield, but announcements will be forthcoming shortly and we'll update this article with more details - whether the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro will be the first Xiaomi devices to head to the US, we're not sure.

Considering the speed at which the Xiaomi Mi4 has been selling out though, we'll assume if you want to pick up a Mi Note Pro or Mi Note via importers or online, you're going to want to do it very quickly once these bad boys are made available.

In case you were wondering what 3D Gorilla Glass looks like on the Xiaomi Mi Note. © Xiaomi

What do you think of these new offerings by Xiaomi? Would you snap up a Mi Note Pro?

Source: Xiaomi (Facebook), Xiaomi

Just like its phones, tablets and set top boxes, ‘leaked’ Xiaomi laptop looks exactly like an Apple MacBook Air (Updated)

Xiaomi has definitely been growing fast in emerging markets, but until now the company has focused mostly on stealing as much of Samsung’s Chinese smartphone market share as it can. According to Gartner’s most recent numbers, the company rose in Q3 to take a spot in the world’s top 5 smartphone manufacturers. But the company has other products beyond just smartphones, and now it has apparently begun working on a new Mi-branded laptop—and, to no one’s surprise, it looks just like a MacBook Air. Update: a Mi spokeperson has refuted that the image in question is a Xiaomi laptop. This appears to be the original. As you can see in the image above, everything from the black chiclet keys to the wedge-shaped sides are eerily similar to Apple’s line of thin laptops. The design of the back hinge, the device’s camera, trackpad, and the aluminum and black color scheme would confuse most if it weren’t for some obvious differences. The Xiaomi “Mi” logo is placed directly in the center of the screen’s bottom bezel, and it looks like the company decided to go with bright orange for the device’s keyboard power button as well. All of this comes via Gizmochina, which claims to have a little insight on what kind of hardware this device will pack as well. The insides of the device will supposedly include an Intel Haswell i7-4500u processor, 2 x 8 GB dual channel memory, and a 15-inch 1080p display. As for software, it’s apparently going to run a version of Linux that has been customized by Xiaomi. It’s said to be starting at about half the price of a real MacBook Air—somewhere in the range a little less than $500. Here are a few more images of the device:
Xiaomi announced today that it completed a round of $1.1 billion in funding, with the company now valued at around $45 billion total. Along with that announcement, the company says that its next flagship smartphone (which will likely be almost as much an iPhone copycat as this is a MacBook copycat) will be announced at some point this month.

No they didnt? Yes, they did! The iconic "one more thing" slide. Priceless – Xiaomi Mi4 pic.twitter.com/bD9UamXVBl
— Sascha Pallenberg (@sascha_p) July 22, 2014