Tag: miui

Xiaomi Introduces 3D Air Gestures To Toggle Apps With One Hand

Xiaomi is known to incorporate its Beta builds of MIUI with multiple new features that it wants to test out. Historically speaking, the Chinese region generally receives these form of updates before any other country. The latest beta build for MIUI has just received new gestures support for the Xiaomi Mi 9. The company has dubbed this new feature “3D Air Gestures”.

The new feature will let users launch various apps by simply waving their smartphones in the air in a certain manner. Programmable gestures demonstrated by a Xiaomi executive include M, W, C, and Z. According to the source, drawing any of the previously mentioned alphabets in the air with the device can open a certain application which might be user programmable. As seen so far, the feature can only be accessed while the device is an unlocked state. However, when the feature rolls out in a consumer ready update, it might even work on the lock screen which is similar to Moto actions seen on Motorola smartphones. Speaking of functionality, the feature uses a combination of the accelerometer and gyroscope sensors which are present on most modern smartphones. Therefore, this feature may even be seen on the current lineup of Mi device and not just future releases.

3D Air Gestures were first seen in a video by a Xiaomi employee on Weibo that has since been reposted on YouTube. In the video, the employee can be seen drawing a C with his Mi 9 to launch the camera app, a W to launch TikTok and drawing a Z to launch an unspecified app. However, the exact method of how the feature truly works in regards to the sensors is yet to be discerned.

Also Read: Samsung Has Sold 1 Million Units Of Galaxy S10 5G In South Korea

All in all, this seems to be a great feature from Xiaomi which might actually turn into a mainstream feature amongst offerings from other OEMs as well. To get precise details of this feature’s capabilities, we will have to wait patiently as Xiaomi is yet to release the launch date of the upcoming MIUI 11 update.

June 25, 2019
MIUI 10 To Launch On May 31st Along With Mi 8

Xiaomi has confirmed that a May 31st event to celebrate 8 years of the company will be held in China. The Xiaomi Mi 8 will launch at the event along with a few other products. The Mi Band 3 has also been rumoured to launch at the event. The company has taken to Twitter to confirm that the next iteration of MIUI will also launch at the May 31st event. MIUI 10 will follow MIUI 9 which was announced in late-July 2017.

The teaser released by Xiaomi has some text written under the number ’10’. It roughly translates to “I will be faster than lighting.” This is in line with the Mi 8 teaser which read “I am Mi 8 and I will be faster than ever.” This suggests that the Mi 8 will be the first smartphone to run MIUI 10 out of the box. While there are no details about MIUI 10 so far, it is expected to be based on Android 8 Oreo.

Must Read: OPPO Realme 1 Launched In India Starting Rs 8990

With Android P just a couple of months away from official launch, Xiaomi smartphones after the Mi 8 will launch with Android 8 Oreo out of the box. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly Xiaomi releases updates to the latest version of Android since that has been one of the main concerns for people using MIUI. With Project Treble, the timeline of updates should be shorter but, how short that will be, only time will tell.

Mi 8

The focus will surely remain on the Mi 8. The smartphone is expected to have 3D facial recognition technology, similar to the iPhone X. If this turns out to be true, the Xiaomi Mi 8 will be the first ever Android smartphone to feature such technology. Just like what the Mi MIX did in 2016, the Mi 8 might set a precedent for upcoming Android devices in terms of biometrics.

Must Read: iGyaan Tech Tips: How To Install Third-Party Apps On Xiaomi Mi TV 4

The launch event is just a few days away and it’ll be interesting to see if Xiaomi plans to celebrate the 8th anniversary just in China or will other countries like India will be a part of its plans.

May 23, 2018
MIUI 9 Launched With New Features

MIUI has long been one of the most polarising custom Android skins. It has garnered quite a fan base across the board but also has its fair share of cynics, and you can’t disregard either. For long, MIUI has been a highly customisable but also slow and unstable skin that a lot of people love to hate. Even Xiaomi’s latest flagship Mi 6 with all the high end specs was found to be a little slow in certain areas. To deal with all that, Xiaomi has launched MIUI 9 with new features. It is worth noting that MIUI 9 will for the time being just be available in China, and the release date for other markets has not yet been announced.

Faster App Launching Speed

One of the main criticisms of MIUI has been its sluggish nature and the slow speed of general usage even in the flagship devices. Keeping that in mind, Xiaomi has promised much faster app launching speeds and navigation between multiple apps will be snappier as well. Performance enhancements are always welcome and this looks to be a step in the right direction for the Chinese giant.

Under The Hood Updates

Xiaomi has also introduced MIUI 9 with a few features that run in the background for example application prioritisation. This basically means that apps in the foreground will use up more power, but that has been on Android for a while. It also has better cache management, a new file system and a bunch of other tweaks to make the user experience crisper and snappier.

The ‘Smart’ Features

Xiaomi has also launched its Smart Assistant to compete with the likes of Google Assistant, Siri, Alexa and even Bixby. The voice assistant will be available in China only for the time being as localisation of the software may take time. Image search allows you to search your image talliers by image context keywords, so if you a looking for pictures with dogs that you have clicked you will be able to do that. The Smart App Launcher is a feature that makes a lot of sense as well. It basically means that you can open up a relevant app on the basis of the content on your current app. For example, if a friend sends you a restaurant’s name, you can open up Zomato to look up the restaurant.

Split-screen Is here, Finally.

The split-screen feature was one of the major upgrades in Android Nougat and a plethora of phones from mid-rangers to flagships have embraced this handy little feature. Xiaomi, on the other hand, has launched it just now with MIUI 9 and it’s a welcome update.

Xiaomi will begin to roll out the MIUI developer beta 9 from August 11 to the Xiaomi Mi6, with more phones will follow suit in the coming months. There is no clarity as to when Xiaomi will launch MIUI 9 in the global market.

July 27, 2017
Xiaomi Launches Mi Max and MiUi 8

Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun today launched the new Mi Max and MiUi 8.

The 6.44-inch Mi Max is an attempt to break into the large phablet category, which is highly appreciated in the Asian region. The phone has a large 4850mAh and runs on MiUi 8.

Mi Max has a metal body and a front 2.5D glass surface. The phone being large is relatively thin at 7.5mm and sighs a hefty 203g.The Mi Max runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 650/652 processor, on either six or eight Cortex A72 and A53 cores. Along with Adreno 510 graphics. Several options offer upto Up to 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage and 128 GB Expandability via microSD.

The main camera on the Mi Max is a 16-megapixel camera with PDAF

Three variants of the phone include Mi Max (Snapdragon 650, 3GB + 32GB) will be available at RMB 1499 (Rs. 15500). The Snapdragon 652 variant with 64GB storage (3GB RAM) and 128GB storage (4GB RAM) will retail at RMB 1699 (Rs. 17500) and RMB 1999 (Rs. 20500) respectively.

Xiaomi CEO and founder Lei Jun said: “MIUI 8 is our best operating system to date featuring several innovative breakthroughs. After six years of continuous iterations and upgrades, MIUI has become more user-friendly, presenting boundless opportunities as a mobile Internet platform especially when coupled with a Xiaomi smartphone.”

May 10, 2016
Everything You Wanted to Know About the Upcoming Redmi Note

Xiaomi is about to add a third member to its Indian family. The new device will sit comfortably between the flagship challengers Mi3/Mi4 and the low-end market disrupter Redmi 1S. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note will not be just the third offering from the company; it is also a big screen multimedia lovers delight on a budget. We tell you all that makes the device so unique.

The Specs

Just like Xiaomi’s other offerings, the Redmi Note is good on specs front. It is powered by an octa-core 1.7 GHz processor from MediaTek along with 2 GB RAM. The device gets its juice from a healthy 3100 mAh battery. It has 8 GB of internal memory that is expandable up to 32 GB. The phone is a solid purchase even on the camera front. The main camera is a 13MP shooter, while the front sports a 5MP selfie shooter.

The Display

The huge screen will be appreciated by gamers, readers and multimedia lovers alike.

Redmi Note flaunts a 5.5-inch 720p HD IPS display. This will be a delight for multimedia enthusiasts, e-book readers and gamers alike. With 267ppi, the display of the device has lower pixel count in comparison to the Redmi 1S, so don’t expect the same level of quality. It also doesn’t have the Gorilla Glass protection as is available on the Redmi 1S. So you’d need to spend on a screen protection.

MIUI makes the device unique.

MIUI

The Note, of course, carries Xiaomi’s own MIUI, which is one of the best user interfaces out there. With a slew of regular updates, MIUI is always working towards being bug-free. Xiaomi has released MIUI 6, which is its latest UI buy it is not sure as of yet if the Redmi Note will be getting the update.

Battery Power

The huge battery that powers Redmi Note is one the winning features of the device. The company claims that the phablet can run 14 hours on 3G use, 38 hours on 2G use and offers up to 60 hours on music playback.

Note Cases

Considering the device’s Chinese upbringing, it comes in multiple colour options. These include classy navy blue to hot pink, whatever pleases you.

Overall, this is a great multimedia device on a budget. It has good specs, and the massive screen is its USP. This dual-SIM phablet is the bigger sibling of Xiaomi Redmi 1S and it sure will attract the same kind of attention. The device is expected to be priced at Rs. 9,999 but we will wait till the launch to confirm the same. So keep checking iGyaan for more.

November 24, 2014
Xiaomi Issues MiUi Update to fix some Mi3 Issues

Xiaomi seems to be pumped up about its new Mi3 sales in India, and the company is hell bent on proving that they are here to stay. The new MiUi update comes just days after the initial batch of phones were sold in India. This update addresses some of the crashing issues that people have been facing, along with other bug fixes and add ons.

The new MiUi update adds a new “saver” feature in data usage, which will allow users to possibly save on data costs. The MiUi update also adds a new version of Block and optimises the online music page.

The file is 592 MB in size and will essentially do a software re-flash, so is recommended that you back up your data before you proceed.

The Xiaomi Mi3 competes with the flagships for a price that is considered lower than mid range. The Mi3 is powered by a Snapdragon 800 chipset and features a 1920 x 1080p display, has a 3050 mAh battery and comes with 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage. MiUi comes on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat and hopeful the company will issue the next version of Android, currently known as Android L.

For more details on the Mi3, read our review here.

July 27, 2014
5 Things You Should But Don’t Know About Xiaomi Smartphones

The entry of Xiaomi in the Indian market has already created a stir amongst the domestic smartphone players. It may be difficult to imagine that any smartphone firm other than Apple and Samsung can cause such a commotion, let alone a Chinese one. But what is Xiaomi? At first, we couldn’t even pronounce its name properly (it’s Shiao-Me). Well tell you what, we give you 5 reasons to consider Xiaomi as a strong contender in Smartphone market.

1. Lockscreen

The MiUi (Xiaomi operating system) lockscreen has multiple functions. To lock the screen, press the home button till you see a LED light being activated. Double tap the lock screen to control the music menu. Got an unread SMS? Just tap the center of the screen to directly answer the text.

2. Interface

All apps in MiUi are gathered at the main interface along with the widgets as MiUi does not have an app drawer. While Android can quit all applications that run in the background with a long press on the menu button, MiUi users can choose the applications they want in the background, while exiting the rest of them. Also, MiUi’s call interface looks similar to that of Android but it offers additional functions. When making a call, users can opt to write a note and record the conversation in an MP3 format.

3. Messaging

MiUi’s messaging application seems normal but it has an ability to ensure important messages are always on the top by using the pin. Most importantly, MiUi has a Private Messaging function, which allows users to hide sensitive messages with the use of password. You can even select your private messaging contacts and save them in a password protected format. The function can be accessed by dragging down the Messaging interface several times.

4. Intelligent Front Camera

The front camera of Mi 3 has special functions. It comes with an ability to detect gender and age, and subsequently chooses the right filter to enhance pictures. Good news for selfie lovers as no editing is needed before posting pictures in social network. The Mi3 which is going to enter Indian market soon, flaunts a 13 MP rear and 2 MP front camera.

5. Backup

MiUi has its own Backup application. Users can create a backup and save it somewhere else, such as a laptop. This backup can be used if the gadget faces problems in the future. Each function can be reinstalled with Backup. It comes with it’s own local backup system, inclusive of 3rd party applications and data. You can also activate automatic backup timing, which will execute data backup at your specific intervals.

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July 15, 2014