9 ms·

Not to get all anti-Chinese here, because I'm not, but Xiaomi is a big-time GPL and intellectual property/license violator. Not like that's unusual with Chinese

by jmomo 13y ago

Not to get all anti-Chinese here, because I'm not, but Xiaomi is a big-time GPL and intellectual property/license violator. Not like that's unusual with Chinese companies, but Xiaomi in particular has been publicly called out a number of times on the issue. http://www.thepowerbase.com/2012/11/android-community-demands-miui-rom-comply-with-foss-licenses/ http://www.thepowerbase.com/2012/11/android-community-demand... If you thought some of Samsung's early Android phones were too close to copying the iPhone, you've seen nothing. Xiaomi phones blatantly rip off design of other manufactures, especially Apple. They are not even coy about it. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-an-empire-built-by-aping-apple.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-a... As far as the OSS comunity goes, this is probably a career limiting move by Barra right here.

est 13y ago
> Xiaomi phones blatantly rip off design of other manufactures, especially Apple Here is the original Xiaomi phone http://imgur.com/a/nWsOW http://imgur.com/a/nWsOW It's iPhone copycat because obviously it has Round CornersⒸ. There are tons of MIUI roms out there available for download, try it yourself and see if you can find iOS there.
- AJ007 13y ago
  The parent poster links to a story that alleges licensing violations with regards to the Linux kernel. Hardly sounds like a joke to me.
  - est 13y ago
    Yeah that kind of sucks. MIUI copied more CM than AOSP. However, every Xiaomi phone can be rooted freely and you can switch to CM or whatever you want. That's one of its advertised selling point in the M1Plus phone.
  - yareally 13y ago
    It's more than alleged if you're into the Android modding scene. MIUI extensively rips off Cyanogenmod, contributes nothing back to them (including source, not that they have to under Apache 2.0, but they should) and also completely ignores the GPL for things like the kernel for every version of MIUI they release for any phone. Just do a quick search on XDA developers to see what I mean. As already mentioned, their only redeeming quality is their phones are easy to mod, but they ignore licensing obligations and have as long as I can remember.
    - chmike 13y ago
      Licensing for what ? Using round corners ? Rectangular speaker hole on top of screen ? How original and inventive are these features ? Is that all what makes an Apple iPhone ? I mean is this copying iPhones ?
      - icebraining 13y ago
        Licensing of the Android software.
      - yareally 13y ago
        I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I am guessing you meant to reply to a different comment than mine? I'm referring to following software licenses (such as the GPL and the Linux Kernel) and Xiaomi has always ignored them comes to MIUI. I could care less what phone looks like what and not even sure why it's getting so much focus. The more important issue is Xiaomi and their scoffing at the GPL when it comes to the Linux Kernel.
Cookingboy 13y ago
I really don't want to sound arrogant or rude, but this comment really worries me a bit since it represents the kind of arrogance that's prevalent in the American tech industry. Stories like this represent a global shift of power, financial resource, and more importantly, talent. This trend is only accelerating as far as I can tell, whether people like it or not. The global competition in tech space is heating up to an unprecedented degree. Yet not even about Android or the mobile market in general, a comment about the feeling of OSS community gets voted to top...
- kailuowang 13y ago
  What do you think Hugo Barra can bring to Xiaomi? I mean as you said in the other comment, culture in Chinese tech industry is completely different from in U.S. not to mention Google. So I am curious on your opinion about this. Honestly speaking, given Xiaomi's marketing style, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a brand image consideration of this high profile hiring. What do you think?
  - Cookingboy 13y ago
    Brand image would definitely be important, but not for the Chinese market there. I doubt that many people in China know who Hugo is. I even know quite a few people who don't know what Google is. If I have to guess, it's for building infrastructure (connections) of Xiaomi breaking into the North American market. Xiaomi's CEO is extremely ambitious and there is no way he'd sit out of THE most profitable mobile market in the world. So he starts by making a high profile hiring first, good PR move and a practical move.
    - ZeroGravitas 13y ago
      From Hugo Barra's G+: "In a few weeks, I'll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally — as Vice President, Xiaomi Global." https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HugoBarra/posts/BzZMqRht1xQ https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HugoBarra/posts/BzZMqRht1xQ So expansion outside of China seems to be the reason.
nl 13y ago
Xiaomi phones blatantly rip off design of other manufactures, especially Apple. They are not even coy about it. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-an-empire-built-by-aping-apple.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-a... . That's NOT what the linked article says at all. It says the the founder, Lei Jun, is is positioning himself and his company as figurative heirs of Mr. Jobs by carefully cultivating a Jobsian image here, right down to his jeans and dark shirts. It does say He is also selling millions of mobile phones that look a lot like iPhones, but they only look like iPhones in the sense they have rounded corners. If you look at a pic of a phone (eg http://p.www.xiaomi.com/zt/130718/images/m2s_26.jpg?130809 http://p.www.xiaomi.com/zt/130718/images/m2s_26.jpg?130809) you'll see they are a lot less similar than many phones sold today - specifically the two-color shell makes it immediately obvious they aren't a complete iPhone clone.
- ZeroGravitas 13y ago
  Indeed, from that shot it seems like the rumoured iPhone 5C (the C is rumoured to stand for "China") is copying the highly succesful Chinese brand Xiaomi, not the other way round. http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/budget-iphone-5c-release-date-news-rumours-price-and-pictures http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/budget-iphone-5c-release-...
CitizenKane 13y ago
I'm not so sure. My fiancee owns a Mi Two and I've used it pretty extensively. There are some parts that really copy iOS, but most parts of the MIUI don't look or feel like iOS at all. It's a great OS and has a lot of polish to it.
- levosmetalo 13y ago
  MIUI is probably the best Android based OS available. I switched to it from Cyanogen and after two years I still keep my old Desire since I can't bother to change to any other OS and then hassle with rooting it. My next phone might just come with MIUI out of the box.
  - girvo 13y ago
    Interestingly, this thread and my frustration with how... boring 4.3 is on my Xperia S has made me download and flash MIUI on it. I forgot how awesome it actually is. So very well done.
Volpe 13y ago
> ... Not like that's unusual with Chinese companies ... So you did want to get all anti-chinese here. Your statement would have been just as valid without the 'chinese' qualification.
HowardMei 13y ago
About Link #1: The license violation issue is true in China, though I'm not sure whether Xiaomi touched kernel code or just reworked in userland. GPL license simply does NOT work in China for two reasons. 1)IP protection is sadly ineffective due to the impaired legal system. In practice, GPL=Appache in China. 2) Consumers hate to pay for pure services without goods delivered due to misconceptions from long lasting low cost of human labor. In practice, free full version software plus charging for premium human support does not work. These two things are changing slowly but any one interested in China market should never ignore them, especially the 2nd one. Xiaomi will be sued outside China if they violate the GPL license. That's a risk they can't ignore. About Link #2: For a lot of overseas Chinese like me, NYTimes is notorious for holding biased views towards China. This actually undermines its credibility compared with less biased media like BBC. I bought a Xiaomi phone for my father recently and I've been Samsung and Apple client for a long time. IMO, Xiaomi has done a very impressive job to improve Android OS for non-geek people. One of those nice built-in features is seamless fine grain privacy/access control of each app. Another is built-in 3G traffic optimization and metering which is important because 3G data plans provide smaller quotas in China. Xiaomi brings a lot of merits from IOS to Android not by simply copying designs. They did a good job to solve the pain points for their audiences, who are mostly first time smartphone users. They mainly compete with feature phone vendors other than Samsung or Apple before Xiaomi gains huge traction. My father was very glad to switch to Xiaomi after my several failed attempts of replacing his beloved feature phone :) Even I myself plan to buy a Xiaomi to replace my buggy Samsung S3 (never-rooted, less than 1 year) if it's going to release a high-end model.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  For a lot of foreigners in China like me, Xinhua/People's Daily/Chinadaily are notorious for holding biased views for China. This actually undermines its credibility compared with less biased media like NYTimes.
  - HowardMei 13y ago
    That's true ：） Most Chinese don't trust them either. That's why Weibo/Forums/SNS come to act as new media. As for traditional media, BBC has a good reputation in my circles.
Sagat 13y ago
I'd rather have a license violator than American tech companies selling my personal information or making it freely available to their government.
- jnbiche 13y ago
  Do you think that Chinese companies offering web services don't share their user information with the Chinese government upon request? If you look at my comment history, you'll see that I'm highly critical of US companies' attitude toward privacy, but it's naive to think that the same thing isn't happening in China.

by jmomo 13y ago

est 13y ago

> Xiaomi phones blatantly rip off design of other manufactures, especially Apple Here is the original Xiaomi phone http://imgur.com/a/nWsOW http://imgur.com/a/nWsOW It's iPhone copycat because obviously it has Round CornersⒸ. There are tons of MIUI roms out there available for download, try it yourself and see if you can find iOS there.

AJ007 13y ago
The parent poster links to a story that alleges licensing violations with regards to the Linux kernel. Hardly sounds like a joke to me.
- est 13y ago
  Yeah that kind of sucks. MIUI copied more CM than AOSP. However, every Xiaomi phone can be rooted freely and you can switch to CM or whatever you want. That's one of its advertised selling point in the M1Plus phone.
- yareally 13y ago
  It's more than alleged if you're into the Android modding scene. MIUI extensively rips off Cyanogenmod, contributes nothing back to them (including source, not that they have to under Apache 2.0, but they should) and also completely ignores the GPL for things like the kernel for every version of MIUI they release for any phone. Just do a quick search on XDA developers to see what I mean. As already mentioned, their only redeeming quality is their phones are easy to mod, but they ignore licensing obligations and have as long as I can remember.
  - chmike 13y ago
    Licensing for what ? Using round corners ? Rectangular speaker hole on top of screen ? How original and inventive are these features ? Is that all what makes an Apple iPhone ? I mean is this copying iPhones ?
    - icebraining 13y ago
      Licensing of the Android software.
    - yareally 13y ago
      I'm not sure what you're referring to, but I am guessing you meant to reply to a different comment than mine? I'm referring to following software licenses (such as the GPL and the Linux Kernel) and Xiaomi has always ignored them comes to MIUI. I could care less what phone looks like what and not even sure why it's getting so much focus. The more important issue is Xiaomi and their scoffing at the GPL when it comes to the Linux Kernel.

Cookingboy 13y ago

I really don't want to sound arrogant or rude, but this comment really worries me a bit since it represents the kind of arrogance that's prevalent in the American tech industry. Stories like this represent a global shift of power, financial resource, and more importantly, talent. This trend is only accelerating as far as I can tell, whether people like it or not. The global competition in tech space is heating up to an unprecedented degree. Yet not even about Android or the mobile market in general, a comment about the feeling of OSS community gets voted to top...

kailuowang 13y ago
What do you think Hugo Barra can bring to Xiaomi? I mean as you said in the other comment, culture in Chinese tech industry is completely different from in U.S. not to mention Google. So I am curious on your opinion about this. Honestly speaking, given Xiaomi's marketing style, I wouldn't be surprised if there is a brand image consideration of this high profile hiring. What do you think?
- Cookingboy 13y ago
  Brand image would definitely be important, but not for the Chinese market there. I doubt that many people in China know who Hugo is. I even know quite a few people who don't know what Google is. If I have to guess, it's for building infrastructure (connections) of Xiaomi breaking into the North American market. Xiaomi's CEO is extremely ambitious and there is no way he'd sit out of THE most profitable mobile market in the world. So he starts by making a high profile hiring first, good PR move and a practical move.
  - ZeroGravitas 13y ago
    From Hugo Barra's G+: "In a few weeks, I'll be joining the Xiaomi team in China to help them expand their incredible product portfolio and business globally — as Vice President, Xiaomi Global." https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HugoBarra/posts/BzZMqRht1xQ https://plus.google.com/u/0/+HugoBarra/posts/BzZMqRht1xQ So expansion outside of China seems to be the reason.

nl 13y ago

Xiaomi phones blatantly rip off design of other manufactures, especially Apple. They are not even coy about it. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-an-empire-built-by-aping-apple.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/business/global/in-china-a... . That's NOT what the linked article says at all. It says the the founder, Lei Jun, is is positioning himself and his company as figurative heirs of Mr. Jobs by carefully cultivating a Jobsian image here, right down to his jeans and dark shirts. It does say He is also selling millions of mobile phones that look a lot like iPhones, but they only look like iPhones in the sense they have rounded corners. If you look at a pic of a phone (eg http://p.www.xiaomi.com/zt/130718/images/m2s_26.jpg?130809 http://p.www.xiaomi.com/zt/130718/images/m2s_26.jpg?130809) you'll see they are a lot less similar than many phones sold today - specifically the two-color shell makes it immediately obvious they aren't a complete iPhone clone.

ZeroGravitas 13y ago
Indeed, from that shot it seems like the rumoured iPhone 5C (the C is rumoured to stand for "China") is copying the highly succesful Chinese brand Xiaomi, not the other way round. http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/budget-iphone-5c-release-date-news-rumours-price-and-pictures http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/budget-iphone-5c-release-...

CitizenKane 13y ago

I'm not so sure. My fiancee owns a Mi Two and I've used it pretty extensively. There are some parts that really copy iOS, but most parts of the MIUI don't look or feel like iOS at all. It's a great OS and has a lot of polish to it.

levosmetalo 13y ago
MIUI is probably the best Android based OS available. I switched to it from Cyanogen and after two years I still keep my old Desire since I can't bother to change to any other OS and then hassle with rooting it. My next phone might just come with MIUI out of the box.
- girvo 13y ago
  Interestingly, this thread and my frustration with how... boring 4.3 is on my Xperia S has made me download and flash MIUI on it. I forgot how awesome it actually is. So very well done.

Volpe 13y ago

> ... Not like that's unusual with Chinese companies ... So you did want to get all anti-chinese here. Your statement would have been just as valid without the 'chinese' qualification.

HowardMei 13y ago

About Link #1: The license violation issue is true in China, though I'm not sure whether Xiaomi touched kernel code or just reworked in userland. GPL license simply does NOT work in China for two reasons. 1)IP protection is sadly ineffective due to the impaired legal system. In practice, GPL=Appache in China. 2) Consumers hate to pay for pure services without goods delivered due to misconceptions from long lasting low cost of human labor. In practice, free full version software plus charging for premium human support does not work. These two things are changing slowly but any one interested in China market should never ignore them, especially the 2nd one. Xiaomi will be sued outside China if they violate the GPL license. That's a risk they can't ignore. About Link #2: For a lot of overseas Chinese like me, NYTimes is notorious for holding biased views towards China. This actually undermines its credibility compared with less biased media like BBC. I bought a Xiaomi phone for my father recently and I've been Samsung and Apple client for a long time. IMO, Xiaomi has done a very impressive job to improve Android OS for non-geek people. One of those nice built-in features is seamless fine grain privacy/access control of each app. Another is built-in 3G traffic optimization and metering which is important because 3G data plans provide smaller quotas in China. Xiaomi brings a lot of merits from IOS to Android not by simply copying designs. They did a good job to solve the pain points for their audiences, who are mostly first time smartphone users. They mainly compete with feature phone vendors other than Samsung or Apple before Xiaomi gains huge traction. My father was very glad to switch to Xiaomi after my several failed attempts of replacing his beloved feature phone :) Even I myself plan to buy a Xiaomi to replace my buggy Samsung S3 (never-rooted, less than 1 year) if it's going to release a high-end model.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
For a lot of foreigners in China like me, Xinhua/People's Daily/Chinadaily are notorious for holding biased views for China. This actually undermines its credibility compared with less biased media like NYTimes.
- HowardMei 13y ago
  That's true ：） Most Chinese don't trust them either. That's why Weibo/Forums/SNS come to act as new media. As for traditional media, BBC has a good reputation in my circles.

Sagat 13y ago

I'd rather have a license violator than American tech companies selling my personal information or making it freely available to their government.

jnbiche 13y ago
Do you think that Chinese companies offering web services don't share their user information with the Chinese government upon request? If you look at my comment history, you'll see that I'm highly critical of US companies' attitude toward privacy, but it's naive to think that the same thing isn't happening in China.