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Google disables Xiaomi link to Assistant and Google Home (updated)
Over the last day or so, a poster on Reddit has reported that trying to view the feed from his Xiaomi Mijia 1080p camera on a Google Nest Hub resulted in a feed that included still images, apparently showing cameras in stranger's homes. Android Police picked up on /r/Dio-V's situation, as he posted video that flashed stills of someone's porch, and a man sleeping in a chair. The poster reports he purchased his camera new on AliExpress. In a statement, a Google spokesperson responded by saying "We're aware of the issue and are in contact with Xiaomi to work on a fix," without explaining what it needed to fix. Right now Xiaomi's integrations with Assistant and Google Home have been disabled, and it's unclear when they might get access again. We've reached out to Google and Xiaomi for more information, and will update this post if there is more information. Update (1/3 3:30 AM ET): Xiaomi has responded, stating that the issue occurred due to a cache update, which made the stills pop up if a user had that camera and that display under poor network conditions. According to the company, only 1,044 users had this setup with a "few" experiencing the poor network connection that would make it appear, and they have fixed the issue on their end. The full statement is below.
Everything in our holiday gift guide that you can buy for $50 or less
Depending on your budget and how many people are on your gift list this year, you might only have a modest amount to spend on each person. Even if you instill a cap of fifty bucks, though, you still have plenty of options. In Engadget's 2019 holiday gift guide, we have nearly 50 under $50, with picks running the gamut from toys, to video games, to books and movies, to mobile and gaming accessories. As it happens, today is Black Friday in the US, so chances are, many of the items here will cost you even less than the list price. Happy deal hunting!
Xiaomi is adding early earthquake warnings to MIUI phones in China (updated)
Xiaomi smartphone and set-top box owners in China will soon have access to potentially life-saving early earthquake warnings right on their devices. At its annual Mi Developer conference in Bejing, the Chinese electronics company said its MIUI 11-based smartphones and Mi TV set-top boxes now include an early earthquake warning feature. Xiaomi claims the system is able to deliver warnings "seconds to tens of seconds" before an earthquake arrives. The company has rolled out the feature in China's Sichuan province first, which is one of the country's more earthquake-prone regions, and plans to make it available to all Chinese users in the future.
The best fitness gadgets for the athlete on your list
Pro tip: Don't buy the athlete on your list socks. (Unless they have specific tastes and love odor-resistant wool.) Instead, consider the gadgets they may or may not have in their arsenal. For some, that means a fitness-oriented smartwatch or, perhaps, a single-purpose wearable designed to go deep on a single sport. You might also consider wireless headphones that won't fall out or malfunction in the face of sweat or raindrops. Or a Nintendo Switch game for your favorite sedentary athlete who has trouble finding motivation otherwise. Our list includes some oddball entries too, including a doo-dad that straps your phone to your sports bra while working out, and a vibrating muscle massager that pro athletes swear by. Heck, we'd even make a case for smart shoes. Not all of them, by any means, but we found a pair even us skeptics can get behind. Have a look. And seriously, don't go with socks.
Xiaomi unveils its 108-megapixel smartphone
Xiaomi has unveiled the CC9 Pro smartphone that has one of the highest-resolution cameras -- period -- that you can buy. For instance, the 108-megapixel wide-angle camera has more resolution than Fujifilm's 102-megapixel GFX 100 medium format camera, which has a sensor about 15 times larger. On top of that, the CC9 Pro has four other rear cameras: a 5-megapixel 5x telephoto, 12-megapixel 2x telephoto, 20-megapixel ultra wide-angle lens and a 2-megapixel macro camera with big 1.75um pixels.
Xiaomi's Mi Watch looks like an Apple Watch but it's half the price
While we await the release of Xiaomi's "Surround Screen" phone, the Chinese company is pushing out another device -- a smartwatch that looks strikingly similar to an Apple Watch. We first heard about the Mi Watch last week, but now we have pricing and a release date, although it will initially only go on sale in China.
Xiaomi’s first real smartwatch looks just like an Apple Watch
As Xiaomi gears up to launch its 108-megapixel phone at its November 5th event, the company has also unveiled details of its upcoming smartwatch -- and it looks awfully familiar. The device -- which will probably be called the Mi Watch -- bears a striking resemblance to the Apple Watch.
Xiaomi's Mi Mix Alpha has a '180-percent' screen-to-body ratio
Xiaomi has revealed a new phone that may have come from its efforts to develop a foldable prototype. It's called the Mi Mix Alpha, and it's one-upping the first Mi Mix by having a "Surround Screen" that literally wraps around its body. The Beijing-based tech company says its screen-to-body ratio is 180.6 percent, and the parts not covered by a display -- the top and the bottom of the phone, in other words -- are made of aero-grade titanium that's apparently lighter than stainless steel. Video Presenter: Cherlynn Low Script: Cherlynn Low Script Editor: Terrence O'Brien Editor: Chris Schodt Producer/Camera: Michael Morris
Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi launches its first smart TV
Looks like Xiaomi's sub-brand Redmi is challenging OnePlus and Honor in the smart TV department. Redmi CEO Lu Weibing has revealed the brand's first TV, along with the Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro at an event in Beijing. The company's smart TV debut is simply called the Redmi TV 70", a 70-inch 4K TV powered by 6th-gen Amlogic processor with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and 2.4G/5G dual-band WiFi. While it's unfortunately not HDR-capable -- it only does HDR decoding on a chipset level -- it does come with the usual smart TV capabilities. Like its parent company's smart TVs, it runs on PatchWall AI-enabled TV system and uses Xiaomi's smart assistant XiaoAI.
Samsung's midrange phones helped its market share surge in Europe
Samsung might have good reason for suggesting that midrange phones could help it escape its profit slump. Canalys estimated that Samsung was thriving in Europe in the second quarter of 2019 thanks partly to its midrange phones, surging to 40.6 percent share versus 33.9 percent a year ago. That's 18.3 million phones in total. It had three of the top five shipping phones, all of which were more affordable A-series models like the Galaxy A50 (which represented about 3.2 million units by itself). Flagships like the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note might have been the stars of the show, but it was the lower-cost models that really got people into stores.
Xiaomi is planning a phone with a 108-megapixel camera
Suddenly, Samsung's 64-megapixel phone camera sensor seems antiquated. Xiaomi has revealed that it will not only use the 64MP sensor in an upcoming Redmi phone, but that a future phone will pack a 108MP (oddly billed as 100MP) "ultra-clear" Samsung ISOCELL camera sensor. That's a 12,032 x 9,024 image, folks. This is the kind of resolution you typically expect from medium format cameras, not the phone in your pocket.
Xiaomi subtly clones Apple's Memoji with 'Mimoji'
Xiaomi has a long history of shadowing Apple's moves, and that now includes one of its cutesier inventions: Memoji. As part of the launch of its CC9 phone series, Xiaomi has introduced human "Mimoji" (it previously had animals) that are a not-so-subtle riff on Apple's 3D avatars. While Apple doesn't have a lock on the concept -- ask Samsung -- the art style is uncannily close, right down to the giant eyes and tiny tongues. It's just a matter of different hat and hair styles.
Xiaomi's new Mi CC phones are aimed at young people
Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has struggled to sell phones recently, so now it's spreading its offerings to cater to specific sets of customers. In this case, it's targeting the younger generation with the launch of Mi CC, a new series of smartphones aiming to be "a trendy mobile phone for global young people."
Xiaomi’s $25 Mi Band 4 packs a color screen and swim tracking
Xiaomi is launching the Mi Band 4, the latest generation of its (almost) world-conquering wearables line. The dirt-cheap tracker comes with a bigger, sharper display, microphone and NFC, as well as a new gyroscope. Improved movement tracking means that, for the first time, the band can be used to automatically record your swim laps.
Oppo and Xiaomi show off their under-display selfie cameras (updated)
We've seen phone makers coming up with creative ways to avoid the front-camera notch or hole, with the pop-up camera being an increasingly common option amongst Chinese phones, along with the flip-up camera on the more recent ASUS ZenFone 6. Vivo and Nubia even just went with a secondary display on the back at one point. But now, it appears that Oppo has found a non-mechanical solution -- an under-display selfie camera.
Xiaomi Mi 9 review: A worthy OnePlus rival
I can't spend $1,000 on a smartphone. I just can't. I've walked into countless phone stores, credit card in hand, with every intention of buying the latest flagship. I walk up to the demo area, wake the handset I've already decided to buy and spend a few moments swiping through the app drawer, willing myself to follow through on the purchase. My throat tightens and a few minutes later my legs are moving involuntarily out the door and down the street. It's been this way for years. I love high-end smartphones but can't stomach the price-tag when I think about the rent, bills and unpaid student loans waiting for me at home. Instead, I've veered toward OnePlus and similar brands that offer flagship performance at two-thirds, or sometimes even half the price of phones from likes of Samsung, Google and Apple. And now, Chinese giant Xiaomi has finally entered Europe, including the UK. That makes its latest flagship, the glossy Mi 9, a tantalizing prospect for people like me, who want the best, or close enough, on a tighter budget.
Xiaomi's Black Shark 2 gaming phone packs a pressure-sensitive display
Xiaomi released its third gaming phone today, the Black Shark 2, and this time around, it's using a pressure-sensitive display to cram in even more controls. That way, not only does the phone have an in-display fingerprint sensor by Samsung, it lets you map left and right controls to the screen. So you'll be able to control your games more easily through the screen, rather than by adding on physical buttons.
Making sense of the 5G phones at Mobile World Congress 2019
After years of talk, the era of 5G is finally upon us. This time around, you couldn't take more than a few steps on the MWC show floor without bumping into someone driving a delivery truck via 5G, or seeing a man remotely directing a surgery across town thanks to 5G's ultra-low latency. (In case you hadn't heard, MWC is weird.) For most of us though, 5G just means faster data for our smartphones, so we wanted to take a moment to dig into what the 5G phones we found in Barcelona really bring to the table.
Our favorite smartphones from Mobile World Congress 2019
The last week has been a whirlwind of jamón-flavored chips, 5G talk and things that fold, so naturally, we're still reeling a bit. As we begin pulling ourselves out of this trade show-induced stupor, though, we've taken stock of everything we've seen in Barcelona and compiled this list of our favorite smartphones from the show floor. Not everything that made the cut will be a massive success, or go on sale around the world -- still, because of the ambition and ingenuity that went into each of these devices, each is worth celebrating in its own way.
The final dispatch from MWC 2019
All the phones have been powered down here in Barcelona. Some have even been folded up to make the journey home. After a week's worth of flagships, foldables and 5G, we're departing MWC with a good idea of what the immediate future of phones looks like. We covered a lot of news over the last few days, and it's understandable if you didn't catch all of it. Here are the biggest stories from the show.
