Xiaomi’s Redmi 3X (Redmi 3S + China Unicom support) now on sale
You may well be aware of the Redmi 3S from Xiaomi, but there’s another phone that the brand released soon after — the Redmi 3X.
The main point of difference is the network support, while everything else remains the same. What this means is that the Redmi 3X comes with the same spec sheet.
This includes a 5-inch 1280 x 720p display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of ROM, a 13 mega-pixel rear camera and a 5 mega-pixel front facing camera. Quite an entry-level to mid-range phone, in my opinion, much like its lost cousin.
Unboxing and first impressions of the Xiaomi Mi Drone
This was a little of an unexpected surprise, imagine my shock when the DHL bloke showed up with this large box containing the newly launched Xioami Mi Drone for me to play with.
Xiaomi officially announced their DJI rivalling drone a few months back in China, and the UAV is now shipping to customers that helped to crowdfund the first batch of drones. Being people who like to see the Chinese tech industry grow we and theShop.GizChina.com team had taken part in the fundraising and so we have been among the first to get our hands on them. And yes they are up on the GizChina store now to order (take a look).
Xiaomi Mi Drone – In the box
The Xiaomi Mi Drone comes in two boxes actually. There is the main large box containing the drone and accessories, and a smaller box which houses the camera.
I’m not sure which version of the Mi Drone I have, but both 1080 and 4K versions of the drone are available, and as the camera is seperate it should be a simple swap if you wanted to upgrade to a higher res camera in the future.
In the main box along with the Xiaomi Mi Drone is the controller which dual antenna and a very nicely designed intergrated phone holder.
There is a single smart battery pack with charger, rotor shields for protecting the blades when flying indoors or when less experienced flyers are at the controls, a spanner and screw driver, and a set of 8 rotors.
Xiaomi Mi Drone – Design first impressions
I have to admit that I wasn’t really expecting to be wowed by the Xioami drone and really thought it would be nothing more than a DJI clone with a few Xiaomi touches here and there, but I have been proven wrong and indeed I have been wowed.
The first nice design touch is the fact that the landing gear on the Xioami Mi Drone is foldable for easy storage.
There are switches on each side of the fuelage which lock/unlock the legs in place. This is a big plus over the DJI Phantom which has legs that are fixed in position making it less convenient to travel with it.
Another big update over the DJI Phantom is the Xiaomi Mi Drone’s controller which not only looks better and is more comfortable but also has a much neater and better thought out phone holder.
While the DJI has an ugly peg design, the Xiaomi phone holder lives inside the controller until it is needed and neatly pulls out in to position.
Another difference between the Xiaomi and the DJI is the size. The Xiaomi drone is larger and also feels slightly heavier too.
The camera design of each model is different too, but at this time I’ve only inboxed the drone and not even attempted to attach the camera nor turn it on, but suffice to say that the Xiaomi Mi Drone is a very well made and high quality piece of kit that seems a little better thought out than alternative models.
Xiaomi Mi Drone – Features
Max Speed: 18m/s
Max height: 1000m
Max Flight Time: 27 minutes
GPS Glonass
16 mega-pixel camera
1920 x 1080 60fps
5100mAh battery
Xiaomi Mi Drone – Review Coming Soon
The Xiaomi Mi Drone is now charging up for its first flight which should take place tomorrow if the weather continues to be suitable, and a full review should follow shortly.
For those of you who are already tempted to get your hands on the Mi Drone then head over to shop.gizchina.com and get in contact with them.
Pokémon Go’s Breakout Success Has Implications for the Real World, Too
Nintendo’s mega-popular new game shows that augmented reality may yet trump virtual reality.
Last week, Nintendo launched Pokémon Go. It’s an augmented reality smartphone game that allows you to capture, train, and trade virtual creatures that appear in the real world. Players can roam their neighborhood to find Pokémon, throwing a virtual ball to capture them.
It’s a simple concept, but one that’s so far proven incredibly successful. According to the analytics company SimilarWeb, by July 8, just two days after its release, the game was already installed on 5.16 percent of all Android devices in the U.S.—that’s more than Tinder. It’s also nudging Twitter in terms of numbers of active U.S. users, and seems compelling enough to have kept one man distracted from his wife’s childbirth.
But with such success comes notable social impact. Over the weekend, Shayla Wiggins, from Wyoming, looked to find a Pokémon in a nearby water source, and instead stumbled across a dead body. In O’Fallon, Missouri, a group of teenagers used the app to carry out armed robberies. "Using the geolocation feature the robbers were able to anticipate the location and level of seclusion of unwitting victims," saidSgt. Bill Stringer to the Guardian. Even those not playing the game have been affected, as crowds loiter outside houses that inadvertently correspond to points of interest in the in-game world.
That huge financial success may be a sign of things to come. While the world seems agog at the possibilities of virtual reality, analysts from Stanford-based Digi-Capital suggest that while “virtual reality could be big soon ... augmented reality could be bigger,” though it “might take longer to get there.” While virtual reality—of the kind championed by Oculus, HTC, and Sony—is certainly immersive, augmented reality allows the user to continue interacting with the real world. That means there’s less chance of feeling sick while using the technology, but it also allows for more interesting possibilities.
Some of these are already playing out—retailers are planning on using the technology to show off their wares in your home, for example, in the hope that it will encourage you to buy more stuff. And both Microsoft and Google seem to be backing AR over VR, with their Hololens andTango platforms, respectively.
There are greater technical difficulties in creating impressive AR systems, though. Software not only has to create realistic scenes as it does for VR; it also has to ensure that they’re overlaid onto the real world in a convincing manner. To that end, Oculus last year purchased the U.K. company Surreal Vision, a spin-out of Imperial College London specializing in just that.
Pokémon Go may yet turn out be a fad. But its success could be a sign that augmented reality simply appeals more than its purely virtual stablemate.
The Sony Xperia X Performance is not yet available, but it can be pre-ordered starting at $699 unlocked. You can find it at Best Buy , B&H and Amazon. The device is available in rose gold, lime gold, graphite black, and white, but available variants differ depending on the reseller.
The Xperia X Performance release date is slated for July 17. Our test device for this review was the 32 GB US model in graphite black.
Sony Xperia X Performance design and build quality
Anybody familiar with Sony’s Xperia Z device designs will be immediately at home with the X Performance. Despite a change in title, you could easily think of the Xperia X Performance as an Xperia Z6 – it looks and feels just like an iteration on the Xperia Z5 (and devices before it).
The X Performance is almost identical to the mid-tier device in the X range that we previously reviewed, the Sony Xperia X, though the Performance model is a few millimeters thicker (arriving at 8.7 mm compared to 7.9 mm). Those in search of the sleekest Android machine available should take note: it’s not thick, but it’s thicker than most of the 2016 flagships and it’s one of the first design facets that struck me.
Thickness aside, this looks like a typical Sony Xperia, built of premium-feel brushed metal and glass (I reached out to a Sony PR to confirm the exact material used, and they said "the back of the device is brushed metal" and referred me to the specs sheet). The build quality is strong and it’s both comfortable to hold and impressive to look at.
The metal finish on the device rear and sides give it a sophisticated overtone which is hard to beat. Device’s like the Nextbit Robin, or perhaps the LG G5, seem to lack refinement by comparison.
It’s a hefty little devil, weighing 164 g, and combined with its shiny gray color, it lives up to any expectations instilled by its high price tag: it feels like an expensive piece of hardware. The smartphone's good looks are only boosted by the 2.5D glass on the front and soft, square corners.
Sony Xperia X Performance display
The Sony Xperia X Performance arrives with a 5-inch Full HD display with 441 pixels per inch. It’s an IPS LCD display, giving it a cooler tone than its LED competitors, and images look true to life thanks to Sony X-Reality for Mobile image-enhancement software.
If this isn’t to your liking, you can switch it off, or even make use of 'Super-Vivid mode' which increases the overall saturation to deliver vibrant images. Letting the user quickly alter the color palette and saturation to their particular preference is a nice addition, even when Sony’s display is still highly capable with the setting switched off.
Sony Xperia X Performance camera
Xperia X Performance uses the same camera setup as the Xperia X: a 23 MP rear camera with f / 2.0 aperture and a 13 MP front-facing camera with f / 2.0 aperture. And, in something of a surprise from a Sony device, it’s not very good.
This camera is new to the X range, an ‘upgrade’ compared to the Xperia Z5, with the main difference compared to last year's flagship being the X Performance's new, and very fast, predictive hybrid autofocus system. This helps to better capture moving objects and reduces blur when the smartphone is moving.
