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Xiaomi can’t trademark its iPad ripoff

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Xiaomi pic
One of Xiaomi's soundalike "Mi Pad" tablets.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi, the Chinese company which once specialized in brazen iPhone ripoffs, has gained its own identity in the past few years — but that doesn’t mean that it no longer rips off Apple’s intellectual property.

Fortunately, Apple just gained some struck back, persuading an EU court not to grant Xiaomi a trademark for its “Mi Pad” tablet name.

Pressure mounts on Apple Watch Series 3 as shipments fall

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Apple Watch Series 3 needs to be special.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch Series 3 is under pressure to recapture a larger share of the wearables market after Apple was overtaken by Xiaomi and Fitbit last quarter.

Despite wearables shipments increasing 8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2017, Apple fell to third place, shifting just 2.7 million units.

One-time Apple ripoff company Xiaomi is now leading the wearables market

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Apple Watch goal
Apple is de-throned, but it could be back on top soon.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Xiaomi, the Chinese company which once specialized in brazen iPhone ripoffs, has overtaken Apple and Fitbit to become the number one manufacturer of wearables, based on shipments.

The news comes from a new Strategy Analytics report, which claims that Xiaomi shipped 3.7 million wearable devices during Q2 this year, taking the number one spot. Fitbit shipped 3.4 million to take second place, while Apple shipped 2.8 million for third. Should these numbers be correct, that also means that Apple shipped its 30 millionth Apple Watch at some point over the past three months.

The next great Android phone will have a 360-degree camera

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Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Photo: Andy Rubin

Essential inc, the new tech company founded by the godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, is set to unveil its first product at the end of this month.

A new Twitter account created by the company teased the announcement today with its first ever tweet to hype what many anticipate to be a new Android smartphone. Rubin shot followers a teaser in March, but now Essential is busting out its own glimpses of the smartphone that may include a 360-degree camera.

Godfather of Android teases new bezel-free smartphone

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Essential Products' first smartphone may look a bit like this.
Photo: Xiaomi

Bezel-free screens are set to become the biggest trend in Android smartphones this year, if a new teaser from the creator of Android is any indicator.

Former Google employee and godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, tweeted an image this afternoon hinting at the smartphone he’s been working on at his new company. You can only see a corner of the screen, but it looks pretty intriguing.

Take a look:

Apple Watch surges to ‘best quarter ever’ as Fitbit sales decline

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Apple Watch
Apple Watch is no flop.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

2016 was a fantastic year for Apple Watch, according to the latest info from the International Data Corporation that shows Apple’s wearable just experience its best quarter ever.

In its latest report, IDC analysts say Apple Watch is finally closing the gap on Fitbit, which just experienced its largest declines ever in the fourth quarter.

Xiaomi the exit: Hugo Barra leaves struggling company

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Barra led Xiaomi's international expansion.
Photo: Xiaomi

Hugo Barra, probably the most famous Xiaomi executive to stateside audiences, has left the Chinese smartphone maker — apparently prompted by an incredibly disappointing quarter for Xiaomi.

Having once used its strategy of producing low-end iPhone clones to become the world’s most valuable startup, Xiaomi has had something of a fall from grace lately. Having dropped out of the top five smartphone makers in China last year, Barra’s departure is the latest piece of bad news for the company.

Fitbit surges as Apple Watch stumbles

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Simple fitness trackers from Fitbit, Xiaomi and Garmin outsold Apple Watch during the third quarter.
Simple fitness trackers from Fitbit, Xiaomi and Garmin outsold Apple Watch during the third quarter.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Apple Watch may be the most recognizable product in the wearables space, but it isn’t the best-selling.

Sales of Apple Watch are down more than 70 percent, according to IDC Research, which cites third-quarter sales figures of the wearables market.

What the Xiaomi Mi Mix could tell us about the next iPhone

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Mi Mix is easily the prettiest smartphone to date.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s incredible new Mi Mix smartphone brings a jaw-dropping “edgeless” display, a ceramic design and groundbreaking new technologies.

Unveiled today, it isn’t just the prettiest smartphone of 2016; it’s the prettiest smartphone to date.

The Mi Mix is not an iPhone clone — something Xiaomi has become famous for — but it could tell us a lot about Apple’s next handset.

Steve Jobs’ yacht designer created Xiaomi’s insane new concept phone

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Xiaomi's latest smartphone is a stunner.
Photo: Xiaomi

The Mi Mix, an intriguing new concept phone from Xiaomi, offers an edgeless 6.4-inch display in a form factor no bigger than a regular 5.7-inch handset.

The feature-packed new smartphone was designed in partnership with French designer Philippe Starck, who is perhaps most familiar to Cult of Mac readers as the man who designed Steve Jobs’ high-tech yacht.

Xiaomi beats Apple to embedded ultrasonic fingerprint scanner

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The Mi 5s in all its iPhone 7-inspired glory.
Photo: Xiaomi

Known for ripping off Apple in the past, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has beaten Cupertino in bringing to market a futuristic ultrasonic fingerprint sensor reported to be the same one Apple plans to use for the iPhone 8.

In its new Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus handsets, Xiaomi debuts a new “ultrasonic fingerprint sensor,” which promises to be more accurate than current fingerprint sensors. Check out a video of it in action below.

Iris scanner will put the ‘eye’ in iPhone in 2018

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Apple devices will scan the iris of the user's eye
The window to your soul will soon be the key to your iPhone.
Photo: Bill Dickerson/Flickr

In the near future, you won’t even have to touch your iPhone to unlock it.

Smartphone manufacturers are racing to add new iris-scanning technology to devices, and Apple is also reportedly planning to join the battle by bringing the feature to iPhones in 2018.

Xiaomi’s first MacBook clone will be a powerhouse

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Xiaomi plans to ripoff the MacBook Air next.
Xiaomi plans to ripoff the MacBook next.
Photo: GizmoChina

Like most of the products in its lineup, Xiaomi’s next big thing will be inspired by Apple. But it won’t be another iPhone clone. Instead, the Chinese firm is building its very own MacBook rival, and leaked specifications suggest it will be a tiny powerhouse.

Faltering iPhone loses more ground in China

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Is China falling out of love with iPhone?
Photo: Virginia Werner/Cult of Mac

China is proving to be a harder market to crack than Apple anticipated.

The iPhone-maker has dropped to fifth place in its second most important market, marking yet another setback for Apple in China.

Xiaomi has switched from copying iPhones to copying drones

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Xiaomi is now in the drone business.
Xiaomi is now in the drone business.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi, aka the biggest copy-cat in tech, has decided to stop ripping off Apple for a bit and instead set its sights on drone maker DJI by unveiling its first cheap knockoff drone, the Mi Drone. And it doesn’t look that bad.

The Mi Drone takes some obvious inspiration from DJI’s Phantom lineup, only its way more affordable. For about $460 you can grab the 4K flier, or if you’re cool with just 1080p video you can buy the cheaper model, priced around $380.

It’s not as portable as other drones we’ve seen like the AirDog, but it comes with 27-minutes of battery life and some killer features that could rival the Phantom 4.

Watch it fly below:

Low-cost Android makers are hurting thanks to iPhone SE

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The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs.
Photo: Apple
The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs. Photo: Apple
The iPhone SE is causing a headache for low-cost Chinese OEMs. Photo: Apple

Apple’s affordable 4-inch iPhone SE is causing a major headache for Chinese makers of low-cost Android phones.

Supply chain manufacturers in Taiwan and China are reportedly becoming more conservative about building up inventories of smartphone components from companies including Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo as the iPhone SE squeezes the competition.

Xiaomi shames iPhone by showing off new image stabilization tech

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Mi 5’s new camera is a-Mi-zing.
Photo: Xiaomi
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Mi 5’s new camera is a-Mi-zing. Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi’s brand new Mi 5 handset boasts a revolutionary new image stabilization technology, and there’s no better way to showcase that than by shaming the iPhone.

In the video below, Xiaomi pits the Mi 5 against the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in an optical image stabilization test — and makes them look downright disappointing.

Rival smartphone makers are desperate to rip off 3D Touch

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Everyone wants to get in on the 3D Touch game.
Photo: Synaptics

3D Touch was the single biggest selling point of the iPhone 6s, so naturally every other smartphone vendor is tripping over themselves and each other to add their own version of Apple’s pressure-sensitive iPhone feature to their next handset.

Because of this, a new report claims that force sensing module shipments will grow by a whopping 317 percent in 2016 to reach 461 million units. As a result, almost one in four new smartphones shipped will include the technology.

Xiaomi’s first smartphone with 3D Touch hits a snag

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3D Touch in action on iPhone 6s. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
3D Touch in action on iPhone 6s. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Xiaomi’s efforts to follow Apple into adopting pressure-sensitive smartphone displays has hit a roadblock, with the Chinese company struggling to source suitable components at a reasonable price. This almost certainly means that Xiaomi fans will have to wait longer for its first handset with 3D Touch.

Xiaomi rumored to be ‘borrowing’ Apple’s 3D Touch tech

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Xiaomi wants to bring Apple's 3D Touch technology to its smartphones.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Xiaomi wants its users to enjoy 3D Touch, too. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android
Xiaomi wants its users to enjoy 3D Touch, too. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Xiaomi isn’t exactly known for having its own ideas, so why would you expect it to act any differently when Apple introduced its innovative new 3D Touch feature for the iPhone 6s?

True to form, a new rumor coming out of China claims that Xiaomi has patented its own version of the technology. Because, of course it has.