Techmeme: Xiaomi Mi4 review: China's iPhone killer is unoriginal but amazing (Ron Amadeo/Ars Technica)

Open Links In New Tab

Mobile Archives Advertise Site News

August 25, 2014, 6:05 AM

Top News

Brad Molen / Engadget:

LG will reveal “G Watch R” circular smartwatch at IFA next week to compete with the Moto 360 — LG will reveal a circular smartwatch next week to compete with the Moto 360 — Of the three Android Wear smartwatches introduced at Google's developer conference in June …

James Plafke / ExtremeTech:

Intel's NUC 2.0 expected in 2015 with Broadwell and Braswell processors, support for 4K output — Intel's NUC 2.0 leaks: The next unit of Steam Machines and home theater PCs — Thanks in large part to the Raspberry Pi, mini PCs are all the rage these days.

More: FanlessTech, SlashGear, The Tech Report, The Register and Geek.com

Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:

Xiaomi Mi4 review: China's iPhone killer is unoriginal but amazing — A big iPhone that runs Android ends up being the best of both worlds. — Xiaomi (pronounced SHAO-mee) is a complete mystery in the West. We often hear stories about the “Apple of China” and how existing OEMs should be worried …

Brad Sams / Neowin:

Windows 9 preview updates can be installed with one click, no reinstallation required — Windows Threshold: Rapid release is getting really interesting — Microsoft is working feverishly towards a release of Windows Threshold that is expected to be released late next month.

More: Gearburn, WinBeta and TechCrunch

Robert McMillan / Wired:

White House recruits techies like Mikey Dickerson by dropping suit requirement; still issues BlackBerries — The White House Gives Up on Making Coders Dress Like Adults — The U.S. Government wants to hire more people like Mikey Dickerson. He's the former Google engineer …

More: NPR, FishbowlDC, White House.gov Blog, Washington Post, 9to5Google, The Hill, ReadWrite, The Register and Quartz

Tweets: @dbasch, @vkhosla, @alejandropoire, @andrewsu, @nickdawson and @mims

Jason Del Rey / Re/code:

Aim of Amazon's in-store payment system may be to allow brick and mortar shops to sell on Amazon's online store — Predicting Amazon's Secret Plans in Physical Retail — The recent launch of Amazon's in-store credit card reader and checkout software was one of Jeff Bezos' most deliberate acts …

Tweets: @mdudas and @delrey

Blair Hanley Frank / GeekWire:

OnBeep raises $6.25 million to create a Star Trek-style communicator device — OnBeep, a San Francisco startup founded by Chef co-founder and former Amazon Availability Program Manager Jesse Robbins, has raised a series A funding round worth $6.25 million. The money will be used to fund …

More: Mashable, SlashGear and Wired. Thanks:@johnhcook

Adam Jourdan / Reuters:

China's homegrown OS with app store support may be ready for desktops in October, will extend to mobile devices later — China targets own operating system to take on likes of Microsoft, Google — (Reuters) - China could have a new homegrown operating system by October to take on imported rivals …

More: Xinhua News Agency, Gizmodo, Computerworld, CNET, PC Magazine, PhoneArena and Engadget

Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:

Ralph Lauren partners with OMsignal to test connected shirts with ball boys at the US Open — Ralph Lauren taps OMsignal for sleek, connected shirts at the U.S. Open — Technology and fashion don't often come together in elegant ways, but a collaboration between Ralph Lauren …

More: Gizmodo, Engadget, New York Times and Cantech Letter

Dan Frommer / Quartz:

Top 25 most used apps in US: Facebook on top, followed by YouTube; Google is top publisher — These are the 25 most popular mobile apps in America — In its latest mobile app report, comScore tracks the 25 most popular apps in the US. This is an interesting slice of the App Store …

More: comScore and Digital Trends. Tweets: @kristacanfield, @buzzfeedben, @mdudas, @tlowdermilk, @taavet, @fromedome and @jayrosen_nyu

Robinson Meyer / The Atlantic Online:

Top apps by user age groups: Pandora is 2nd most popular after Facebook for 3 youngest groups

More: comScore, Inc., PhoneArena, Good E-Reader and Wall Street Journal

Tweets: @jackschofield, @wcronon and @dkthomp

Nellie Bowles / Re/code:

YC's Jessica Livingston Was Hit On by a VC on the Way to This Interview — When Jessica Livingston, a co-founder of the influential startup accelerator Y Combinator, arrived at The Wine Room in Palo Alto, Calif., a little early for our meeting, a man who was also waiting outside the wine bar started to chat her up.

More: Valleywag, TechCrunch and Business Insider

Tweets: @loyalelectron, @tqbf, @johnolilly and @davidcowan

David Ruddock / Android Police:

Kreyos smartwatch ships to some Indiegogo backers 9 months late, and containing numerous flaws — Utter Failure Of Kreyos Smartwatch With $1.5 Million In Backing Shows The Continued Perils Of Hardware Crowdfunding — Crowdfunding complex hardware is risky business, and it seems that risk …

More: Gizmodo, docs.google.com, Betabeat, Gizmodo, Betabeat, Crowdfund Insider, TechHive, The Guardian, and Crowdfund Insider. Tweets: @richardlai

Dan Peltier / Skift:

New app that lets US and Canadian citizens forgo customs paperwork tested at Atlanta airport — New Mobile Passport Control App Being Piloted in Atlanta — Skift Take — Using mobile apps to speed the customs process at the airport is a logical step.

More: U.S. Customs …, U.S. Customs …, The Hill, Android Central, USA Today, FedScoop, Los Angeles Times, FierceHomelandSecurity News and Successful Meetings

Sponsor Posts

Soxton:

Fast, affordable law for startups — Soxton automates startup legal so founders can move faster and sleep better. We handle incorporation, advisor, employment and commercial contracts. Join the waitlist for early access!

F5:

Accelerate AI Adoption at F5's AI Virtual Summit — Learn how to architect, secure, and scale AI for production with real-world insights from industry leaders on June 23. Register now to save your spot.

Zoho:

Zoho RPA named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix by Nucleus Research — Zoho RPA has been named a Leader in the 2026 RPA Technology Value Matrix, published by Nucleus Research …

IDrive:

Protecting your Cloud Applications Data — Backing up Office 365, Google Workspace, Dropbox & Salesforce data is critical to preventing data loss or corruption, complying with laws and avoiding critical downtime in case of a disaster.

Sponsor Techmeme

Featured Podcasts

Access:

A top iPhone app developer reacts to Apple's new Siri

A show about the tech industry's inside conversation, hosted by tech reporter Alex Heath and founder whisperer Ellis Hamburger.

Subscribe to Access.

Hard Fork:

'Hard Fork' Live, Part 1: Satya Nadella and Cindy Cohn

The future is already here. Each week, journalists Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore and make sense of the latest in the rapidly changing world of tech.

Subscribe to Hard Fork.

The Upstarts Podcast:

TBC's Alex Ksendzovsky: The Neurosurgeon Using Brain Cells To Build Better AI

Veteran tech reporter Alex Konrad sits down with breakout entrepreneurs taking on the status quo to shake up their fields in AI, design, nuclear energy, space, and more.

Subscribe to The Upstarts Podcast.

BG2 Pod:

The SpaceX IPO, Fable 5, AI Capex Update & Market Check w/ Gavin Baker, Andrew Fox & Clark Tang

Open-source podcast on all things tech, markets, investing, and capitalism, hosted by Brad Gerstner.

Subscribe to BG2 Pod.

The Nick, Dick and Paul Show:

All about Interest Rates

Nick Bilton, Dick Costolo, and Paul Kedrosky pull back the curtain on AI, startups, and the future rushing toward us, all with healthy dose of irreverence.

Subscribe to The Nick, Dick and Paul Show.

Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith:

AI's Mythos Moment: Rishi Sunak on preparing governments for AI

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith speaks with leaders in government, business, and culture to explore the most critical challenges at the intersection of technology and society.

Subscribe to Tools and Weapons with Brad Smith.

Add your podcast here

About This Page

This is a Techmeme archive page. It shows how the site appeared at 6:05 AM ET, August 25, 2014.

The most current version of the site as always is available at our home page. To view an earlier snapshot click here and then modify the date indicated.