I have been invited to attend Xiaomi's first MIDC IOT event in Beijing, where they talked about new improvements on their internet of things strategy.
Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi is the worlds largest IOT platform, having over 85 million connected devices. They also announced a partnership with Baidu which, most likely, will evolve around Baidu's AI platform "DuerOS".
Whilst on the topic of AI, Xiaomi announced they are working hard on improving their AI speaker and they have released a video that actually gives their AI an actual face in the shape of a robotic, female mascotte. (Now imagine Apple giving SIRI a face...)
Xiaomi will release a limited edition AI speaker early next year, but I have no idea on how many they will produce and when this exactly will be.
Xiaomi also announced a temperature and humidity sensor that connects over Bluetooth but can completely integrate into their smart-home ecosystem when connected with a Bluetooth gateway. To my surprise, their recently released Mijia lamp (https://youtu.be/rKK-hF64IHE) actually functions as such a hub.
Yeelight also talked about a Yeelight AI speaker, which is quite an interesting development.
I also got a chance to visit one of Xiaomi's offices whilst I was in Beijing, and I got to ask some questions to Xiaomi's Grandy Gao. That's coming up in another video quite soon.
