Chinese Android Phone Makers Follow Xiaomi into a Software Arms Race

It’s no secret that Xiaomi wants access control of content or services for mobile and, more recently, smart home. It’s also well-know that, unlike the custom Android systems developed by many older phone makers like HTC’s Sense that are more for better user experience, MIUI is part of Xiaomi’s business model from day one. Compared with the one-time gain from hardware sales, the company’s bigger ambition is in the software that will bring in increasingly more revenues in the long run — That’s why the hardware products by the company are sold at relatively low prices.

Xiaomi has launched MIUI 6, the sixth edition of the customized Android system, or ROM, pre-loaded in its hardware products and available for download. The major updates include,

(1)  It enables, with Xiaomi Cloud service, cross-platform syncing between Xiaomi devices, smartphone, tablet, smart TV, set-top box, and smart WiFi router.

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