Author: chris eilers

Thanks to their low price-high spec strategy and excellent Marketing Xiaomi has achieved to become the third largest smartphone producer worldwide in a breeze. Now all this is paying off big time: Xiaomi is raising an astonishing $1.5 Billion round in capital. That is the biggest deal in private financing since Facebook in 2011!

The negotiations for the deal are not finalized yet, but according to CNBC reports investors include the Russian Internet company DST. DST other famous investments include Facebook, Airbnb and Alibaba and it seems like they investing in Xiaomi at a valuation of more then 40 Billion USD.

When the deal goes through, Xiaomi which is barely 4 years old, would be more valuable then Lenovo and Sony combined. At this valuation Xiaomi would be even worth double as much as Uber. Xiaomi staying traditional though, is taking most of the financing from Asia based investors and not Sillicon Valley based VC Firms.

A large amount of that investment, 1 Billion USD, will go into expanding Xiaomi’s own TV Content. Xiaomi has hired Chen Tong, the former chief editor of Sina.com, for a complete revamp of their Internet Video Business model according to Xinhua news.

After this huge round of investment, many believe that the next step for Xiaomi will be an IPO: Xiaomi, one of the large Chinese technology companies, valued at $50 billion would tap the IPO market next year,” wrote South China Morning Post in Hong Kong for example. Already the company is seen by many investors as the next chinese AliBaba. AliBaba just completed a very successful 25 Billion USD IPO in the US.

According to IDT Xiaomi’s smartphone sales, with 17.3 million smartphones sold and doubling profits last quarter makes Xiaomi the Number 3 worldwide. When the deal goes through, this 1.5 Billion USD investment, would be the largest investment raised by any VC backed Chinese Company (outside IPO)

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It seems like 2K Quad HD is not enough for Samsung. They have been hinting at the development of a 4K AMOLED Screen for some time now, but there is new information that the first phone to boast the 4K Screen will be the Galaxy Note 5.

Sources from PhoneArena the 4K AMOLED screen will be 6″ in diagonal and come with an astonishing pixel denisty of 743ppi. We cannot be 100% sure that this is true, but it might be a very logical step for the Galaxy Note Series. The Galaxy Note Series have been growing larger, so a 6inch 4K screen might very well be the next step for the Samsung Note 5.

In a recent interview the Head of LG Screens also suggested that 600 and 700ppi screens are in reach, so its no surprise that Samsung is targeting that goal. Sharp as well was rumoured to be working on a 4K display with a 5.5 – 6 inch size, so 2015 is going to be very interesting in terms of displays.

More information suggests that the Galaxy S6 will come with an Eight Core Exynos 7420 Chipset. We might see this powerful processor as well on the Galaxy Note 5. A second variant of the Note 5 will probably sport the Snapdragon 810.

Normally Samsung launches their Galaxy Note Flagships in fall of the year on the IFA in Berlin in Germany. There is a lot of time till September next year, so the Galaxy S6 is the next Samsung flagship we will be looking forward too.

Many of you have waited for the Xiaomi MI4 4G LTE that will work on LTE networks outside of china. Finally Xiaomi MI4 FDD-LTE the will come to you since it has been spotted on TENAA (Chinas certification service for telecommunications equipment) and is getting ready to go on Sale.

When the Xiaomi Mi4 was announced first, Xiaomi said that there are TD-LTE (Mainland China) and international Xiaomi FDD-LTE versions available, with the international LTE versions launching later.
Now finally the long awaited xiaomi mi4 fdd-lte that will work with international LTE has the number 2,014,719 in the TENAA database, this number is different from the current 3G and TD-LTE Version of the MI4.

Xiaomi MI4 Specs Sheet

The new FDD-LTE Model is made to work with China Unicom networks but will work on most international 4G networks as well. In fact on the TENAA specs we can see that the new Xiaomi Mi4 will work with GSM, TD-LTE, GSM and WCDMA too.

The Xiaomi MI4 will still sport the awesome specs of Snapdragon 801 at 2.5 Ghz, 3GB of RAM. As well as 5.0 inch Full HD display, 16GB ROM and 13MP Camera. The Pricing is expected to be at 1999 yuan, same with the current version of the MI4.

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Vivo might not be as sophisticated as Xiaomi in terms of marketing, but they surely can produce great phones. Both in terms of design and specs Vivo Phones dont need to hide, so lets have a look at the leaked specs of the new Vivo XPlay Phone.

Earlier this week we already heard news from Vivo, because they decided to win back the title for thinnest smartphone worldwide from Oppo. Vivo will launch a 4.75mm thin Vivo X5 Max and its announced on Teenaa already.

Now we get News and leaked specs of a real Vivo Flagship on Weibo for the next generation of Vivo Xplay Phones.

The Xplay generation has been Vivo’s Flagship Series traditionally. The Vivo Xplay 3S, the current Flagship, was the first smartphone with 6inch 2K QHD Display and even the first chinese phone with 3GB RAM, Snapdragon 801 and a fingerprint scanner on the back. Combine this with a f/1.8 13-megapixel camera and its hard to imagine how Vivo can improve on those awesome specs!

And yet the leaked specs suggest that Vivo might achieve to actually top themselves. The Specs show that the new Vivo Phone will come with Qualcomm’s newest Snapdragon 805 at 2.7Ghz and a 6-inch 2560 x 1440 resolution display. The new Vivo phone will also have 13 Megapixel f1.8 main camera with optical image stabilization and dual-tone LED flash. Also it will have a 8 Megapixel f2.4 88 degree Selfie Camera. Further Hardware contains 32GB ROm extendable to 128GB and a 3500 mAH battery.

The new Vivo phone sport Funtouch 2.0 based on Android KitKat 4.4 and is super sleek for 6 inch at only 158.2 x 81.23 x 5.68!

The last Xplay was launched at the same time year, so we really look forward to this Vivo Specs Monster!

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A few days ago we broke news that Xiaomi were planning a GoPro style action camera and were working alongside a company in Shanghai to see it happen. Today more fuel for the rumour fire around the Xiaomi MI Camera arrives.

A few days ago we broke news that Xiaomi were planning a GoPro style action camera and were working alongside a company in Shanghai to see it happen. Today more fuel for the rumour fire around the Xiaomi MI Camera arrives.

UPDATE: The source has updated the price now to 999 Yuan, which translates to 163USD. That is not as super low as the first news, but still much more affordable then the GO PRO Camera.

We just got the News that Xiaomi might be planning a Xiaomi Mi Pro Action Camera and were cooperating with a company in Shanghai to get it done. Today we got more news for the purported Xiaomi Action Camera that will be produced with Ant Technologys.

In Xiaomi’s high spec-low cost tradition the Xiaomi Mi Pro Camera could come with a price as low as 99YUAN when it launches in online stores end of they year. That is just around 17USD and really only a very small part of what you pay for a GO Pro Hero or similiar Action Camera these days.

The new rumours actually include some more specs about the Mi Camera as well. We believe the Mi Pro Camera will come with 128 degrees wide angle lense, which is a given for Action Cameras to get as much of your surroundings as possible. Further the Xiaomi camera will be able to take 30fps 4K videos or 1080p videos at 120fps. The Videos will be stores on SD Cards and the maximum supported SD card is a huge 128GB!

If the Xiaomi Mi Pro Camera really comes out end of the year already I will be one of the first to buy one for Christmas!

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It seems like Huawei has a new Smartphone in the planning, the Huawei Honor 6X phone. Judging by the specs we see on Teenaa the new Honor 6X is definitely an upgrade to the very popular Honor 6, and a real FLAGSHIP phone!

The new Huawei phone just appeared on China’s verion of the SIRIM Database, TEENAA. The Honor 6 will sport a 5.5 inch FULL HD display in a very compact body at 150.4 x 75.68 x 7.5mm.

Also the huawei device will sport an 1.8 Ghz Octa Core Processor, very possible of Huawei’s very powerful Kirin Series. Also the Honor 6X will have 3 GB of RAM and 32GB internal memory, upgradeable with Micro-Sim.

These specs look already very good. Especially the current Honor 6 Kirin 920 OctaCore CPU is extremely powerful, in combination with 3GB of RAM the honor 6x is promising very good performance.

The real promising surprise on the Honor 6X is a Dual Camera with Dual LED Flash though. You can see the dual camera’s in the picture above. It is not yet clear how Huawei will integrate the Dual Cam, but it has been suggested that they could work similiar to HTC’s Duo Camera with extra depth-of-field effect for your pictures. To know which effect or advantages the Dual Camera on the new Huawei phone will bring exactly, we need to be wait though to the official launch though.

The new Huawei Honor 6 is expected to launch End Of the year, so very soon we will know what’s this new powerful Huawei phone with Dual Camera is all about and if it can compete with Xiaomi and Meizu.

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These days Xiaomi surely stays in the news and now it seems like Xiaomi is planning their next big thing. At the moment the Action Camera market is dominated by a few high priced Brands like the GoPro4 and rumours suggest Xiaomi wants to have a share of that cake.

GoPro is clearly the most famous and biggest Brand for Action Cameras. The Go Pro Hero Cameras are designed for different sport activities like climbing, mountain biking, surfing or even skydiving. Undisputable the Go Pro Cameras are amazing with great video quality and lightweight design – if you can afford it. The GoPro Action Models are not exactly cheap.

That is exactly why Xiaomi might be planning to move into that market segment. Rumors on chinese new websites suggest that Xiaomi could be creating their own portable Action Sports Camera for the huge market in China. It seems like they are cooperating with the Company Ant Technology in China and could even launch a first product before end of the year.

If these news is true and Xiaomi will produce a low-price Action Camera, we will definitely be one of the first customers here at Oizoioi!

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Meizu, at the moment the biggest rival of Xiaomi In China, has announced the November 19th for the release of their newest flagship, the Meizu MX4 Pro. They spread the news via their Social Media Networks and are using the Slogan ” Think Higher” for their newest launch in Vice Pavilion of the Beijing National Stadium on November 19th at 14:30, local time. See our Hands on Pictures from the Launch !

Meizu and their current flagship the Meizu MX4 definitely achieved to win the hears of many customers. With high specs, a very good camera and nice design at a reasonable price of only 1799 yuan, the Meizu MX4 sold like hot cakes.

This is how Meizu MX4 Pro launch invite looks like:

Now meizu has started sending out official invites for their Meizu MX4 Pro Launch Event on 19th November. The Meizu MX4 Pro will come with Samsung Exynos 5430 Eight Core CPU, with 3GB of RAM and a 5.5″ 2k QHD display. The camera will still be Sony’s 20.7MP sensor with 2160p video. Additionally there will be a fingerprint scanner on its home button, just like some Samsung Devices.

Live Pictures of the Meizu MX4 Pro 

Early Benchmarks confirm those specs of the Meizu MX4 Pro:

What do you think of the Meizu MX4 Pro Launch? Several sources say the price will be around 2499 Yuan(1358RM) in China, the international price is not yet confirmed. We definitely think the design and specs are impressive and could mean further points for Meizu in the “battle” against Xiaomi in China.

We already announced the news that the Xiaomi MI4 will get a Low-Cost Version with Price Cut and now its official. On November 11.11, the big Sales Day, Xiaomi will release a lower spec version of the Xiaomi Mi4, the Xiaomi Mi4 Youth. The Specs will mostly be the same, with the only change of 2GB RAM instead of 3GB. Xiaomi CEO, Lei Jun, has officially confirmed the Xiaomi Mi4 Youth Version on his Weibo Account.

Lei Jun announced that the Special Low Cost Version of the Xiaomi Mi4 will sell for RMB1799(978RM) and launch on 11.11 in China. It will have 2GB of RAM, 4G support and still sport the powerful Snapdragon 801. Further Lei Jun said that Xiaomi achieved to produce 1.2-1.5 Million Xiaomi MI4 phones this month and plan to produce more then 2Million units of the popular Mi4 in December.

The Xiaomi MI4 Youth with its price level of 1799 Yuan is targeted directly on the Meizu MX4 for 1799 Yuan. The Meizu MX4 has sold so well , that Meizu actually got stock problems as well because of the huge demand.

The Xiaomi Mi4 Youth Version will start selling on Tmall on 11.11 but we might see it on international Resellers already before Christmas Season.

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One thing is clear with Xiaomi in 2014 – Xiaomi stays in the news. Xiaomi are launching new products, lowering prices and are rumoured to bring a new mid range flagship, a new Xiaomi Redmi , to us next month.

We have got new infos and images of what many think will be the new Xiaomi Redmi 2 with better hardware and an updated design. Most sources indicate that the Xiaomi Redmi 2 will come with Snapdragon 615, 2GB of RAM and LTE Support. The Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pricing could be as low as 1499 Yuan at Launch in China.

Read our Xiaomi Redmi Note vs Galaxy Note 3 Neo Review

Originally the Xiaomi Redmi 2 was believed to come with a 5.5 inch display but now most analysts believe that a Full HD 5.0 inch display is more likely. The reason is that at the moment the retail price of Full HD displays is at an all time low, a great ingredient to make very affordable smartphones.

To sum up the Xiaomi Redmi 2 specs will probably be

CPU: Eight Core Snapdragon 610
RAM: 2GB
Display: 5.0 Full HD Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution
LTE
Pricing: Ca 1499 Yuan (812RM/245USD)

So far so good. Industry analysts believe that the Xiaomi Redmi 2 could launch as early as december, just in time for the Chinese New Year Shopping Season. What do you think of those specs and the pricing for the new Xiaomi Redmi Midrange Flagship?

According to recent information we could already see Android V5.0 on the SamsunG Galaxy S5 as soon as December. As normally with big updates like those on Flagships like the S5, there are already leaks out there for the Lollipop Update.

The guys over at SamMobile have gotten an early build of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Android 5.0 Lollipop Update, that is newer then any update we have seen yet. The Lollipop update we can see here is based on Android 5.0 build LRX02E and is including the Lollipop Easter Egg. Most references to lollipops are not in that update yet, probably to prevent further leaks ahead of the Official Samsung Update.

If we compare this Galaxy S5 update to the one that leaked very early in October, this has already more tweaks to make it more fitting with the new Android 5.0 Material Design and look. Some of those changes include smoother animations, new icons, a new system font, and a optimized Material Design Look for a few apps. Also there is an nicer looking User interface for the Settings App.

Overall this Android 5.0 update is definitely an improvement to the one we have seen before. This is still an early build and we are very excited to see what the final Mix of Samsung TouchWiz and Android 5.0 Lollipop is going to look like.

What is your opinion on Android 5.0 Lollipop for Samsung Touchwiz UI?

Vietnam is not only the fastest growing Mobile Market for Apple worldwide, now there is also a 24K gold Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in Vietnam for purchase. Each and every piece of metal on the Note 4 is coated in gold, even including the speaker grills.

For those of you who saved a bit more money, we spotted a 24K gold Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in Vietnam for purchase. Each and every piece of metal on the Note 4 is coated in gold, even including the speaker grills.

This process of coating the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in 24K gold, takes 4-5 hours of time and costs around 1100 USD just for the process. If you fancey the Golden Note 4, youll have to buy the Note 4 on top for an extra shiny 900USD. Check the pictures for the golden Note 4 Phablet – we must admit it looks quite stylish. Check out the video for the golden coating process.

If you fancy yourself a golden gadget, check out Golden Mobile in Vietnam, they are distribuing the Golden Note 4.