Xiaomi’s Future

New Questions in Mobile: An Asian Perspective

That means one thing, if Xiaomi wants to be a global player, they will inevitably end up competing with Google and Apple if they want to be a platform and control their distribution. Given the experience of Samsung, the management team of Xiaomi might decide that the long term strategy is to have control of the platform is to develop their own operating system instead of being at the mercy of Google’s Android. After all, they have the capability to do so. With the recent rumor pointing to them developing on Firefox OS, it is likely that they are looking for a hedge.

Yes, I’ve said more than once I expect a Mi OS.

As for hedges, at one time iLevon wondered about Xiaomi doing a Windows phone:

Xiaomi Windows Phone?
Xiaomi Windows Phone? Part Two

But that hasn’t been mentioned since. I guess the non-existent sales of such phones scared them off.

Xiaomi could always buy Jolla and Sailfish OS.

Google didn’t create Android. They bought it.

MIUI Theme Income: Buy A Car?

Weibo:

What?

Video: Teclast X98 Air 3G AnTuTu 5.6

Thanks to Hendrickson, who granted my request.

With the latest version of AnTuTu, 5.6, are scores going up or down? Is it still possible to compare tablets if the scores change?

See the video after the break.

Xiaomi January 15 2015 Promo Video

The banners are flying over at Weibo. I’ve never seen so many promo banners for any product before. Xiaomi sure does know how to rev up the hype.

And even I’ve succumbed to it.

Because this is really a kick-ass video.

See it after the break.

Nexus 9: Sand Color

Link

I wonder how that will hold up against wear, grime, and palm sweat?

— via Reddit Android

Previously here:

Prior Nexus 9 posts

Onda Announces An Announcement

Weibo:

Announcement does not equal immediate availability… nor finished software.

Previously here:

Onda V989 Demo Of Android 5.0
Allwinner Pimps Android 5.0 In New Video
Onda V989 Will Get Android 5.0

PadNews Editor Shuns Shenzhen

Weibo:

Nokia N1: User Reports

Nokia N1 est Charlie?

Can you stand more unboxing photos? Well they also have AnTuTu 5.5/5.6 scores (which I won’t run here; there are no real surprises).

See Nokia N1 number 1 of 24 unboxed here [Google Translate].

See Nokia N1 number 20 of 24 unboxed here [Google Translate].

But wait! There’s more!

ZOL Disassembles Nokia N1. No Questions Answered.

Scroll down this page — use Chrome browser to translate; neither Google Translate nor Bing Translator work.

The mystery of the USB-C port and USB 2.x speed remains a mystery. They didn’t show it or even mention it at all. The dismantling is brief and is basically pure fluff. A huge disappointment.

Previously here:

Prior Nokia N1 posts

China Tech Briefs

At PadNews:

A very, very long article about the past, present, and possible future of Shenzhen and “cottage” manufacturers [Bing Translator]. This really needs to be rendered into clear English.

Lengthy press material from Intel reviewing their involvement in China [Bing Translator].

Press material from American image sensor manufacturer OmniVision — their sensor is used in several China tablets — announcing a 24 megapixel sensor [Bing Translator].

A press release from chip maker ACTIONS announcing two 64-bit ARM CPUs, the ATM9009 for tablets and the GT9 for set-top boxes and other hardware [Bing Translator].

Another press release from ACTIONS about a prototype tablet using their new 64-bit ATM9009 CPU appearing at CES [Bing Translator].

It seems PadNews has instituted some sort of security. I keep getting some sort of “WebShieldVerify” in the URL now when the page renders. Whatever is going on, it prevents Google Translate from working. Luckily, Bing Translator still works and I can coax a direct URL out of it. Otherwise, the alternative is to use Chrome browser for translation.