Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <b>Xiaomi's a force to be reckoned with in China -- its new phones routinely sell out online in seconds -- but its influence is steadily growing outside its native home.</b><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7CCXNWgkVyogOt3eGopXPAU5PArjosqHJ-aFcj8Z8f1Rd0xc_YR5rBrz9b27irb45fPBLZYGLPyXUcq-GtJ7nQy7jdrv-CRrfhCmhVEFLRwahkrBy1nwBq10Lnx7hINRGX7FITLDn2OI/s1600/Xiaomi-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij7CCXNWgkVyogOt3eGopXPAU5PArjosqHJ-aFcj8Z8f1Rd0xc_YR5rBrz9b27irb45fPBLZYGLPyXUcq-GtJ7nQy7jdrv-CRrfhCmhVEFLRwahkrBy1nwBq10Lnx7hINRGX7FITLDn2OI/s1600/Xiaomi-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div> <div> That's why the company's infrastructure has been quietly shifting these past few months, and VP/former Googler Hugo Barra pulled back the curtain on what Xiaomi's been up to. Long story short: it's moving user data around the world, not only to make sure its services work better, but also to better protect its users' information.<br /> <br /> Some of the changes Xiaomi enacted are purely prosaic: it's moving its e-commerce platform to Amazon data centers in California and Singapore so the site runs faster. Great! Of course, there's something more crucial to Xiaomi's future than making sure its website loads quickly. We're talking about privacy here, and Xiaomi doesn't exactly have a spotless track record when it comes safeguarding user info.<br /> <br /> Finnish security firm F-Secure learned earlier this year that some Xiaomi phones relayed sensitive information like phone numbers and device identifiers back to company servers in China (in plain text, no less). Xiaomi quickly addressed the issue, but it was still enough to spook some curious players around the world. Take India, for instance - Xiaomi pulled off a very successful (if quiet) launch there, selling 40,000 phones in a hair over four seconds in early September. Earlier this week, though, The New Indian Express reported that the Indian Air Force has been cracking down on the use of Xiaomi phones because of their habit of relaying information back to China. Similar concerns caused the Taiwanese government to conduct its own investigation on Xiaomi phones, though officials haven't yet published their results.<br /> <br /> Xiaomi's great data shift might be the right answer at the right time. Barra noted that international users' data would no longer live in Beijing -- instead, it'll be stored on Amazon servers in Oregon and Singapore, far away from the Chinese government's curious eyes. If Xiaomi's really going to grow into the global giant it clearly wants to be, it has to do pull of the greatest feat of them all: it has to make the world's potential customers trust it. The move won't be done until later this year, but still -- it's a very clear step in the right direction.</div> </div> <div> <br /></div>

Xiaomi is moving some of its users' data out of China

Xiaomi's a force to be reckoned with in China -- its new phones routinely sell out online in seconds -- but its influence is steadily ...

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Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really

<h2 style="text-align: center;"> <span style="color: blue;">Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really</span></h2> <b>According to a report, the rumored 8-inch “Surface mini” tablet is indeed real—although Microsoft has no plans to ship it. And that’s probably because you wouldn’t be interested in buying it, anyway.</b><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHit-LoMNYjGTDBkdnbTOfAxxEAK2T2H8iA5u22Ad3hqu20aWSi3xN4vxBcWpo8XXlAedtSZoEyFXGrzEuxuynQKUnP7L2KlaflzHzVH1brJdyMyVCSRDJ77w2B3SeKLvoadTTPYElfPZP/s1600/Microsoft's-Surface-mini-tablet-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="alt" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHit-LoMNYjGTDBkdnbTOfAxxEAK2T2H8iA5u22Ad3hqu20aWSi3xN4vxBcWpo8XXlAedtSZoEyFXGrzEuxuynQKUnP7L2KlaflzHzVH1brJdyMyVCSRDJ77w2B3SeKLvoadTTPYElfPZP/s1600/Microsoft's-Surface-mini-tablet-tech24h.blogspot.com.jpg" title="" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div> Although Microsoft has marketed the Surface line of tablets as productivity devices, the Surface mini is powered by Windows RT, running on top of just 1GB of RAM. Those specs were provided by Neowin, which said it's actually held and tested as Surface mini—although Neowin's source forbade photographs.<br /> <br /> That would essentially make the Surface mini a device for consuming content—and in limited fashion, as there simply aren’t too many applications written specifically for Windows RT these days. Any available apps would have to run on that anemic 1GB of RAM, which is less than what you’ll find in some smartphones these days.<br /> <br /> The cut-down specs are also less powerful than what other tablet manufacturers announced earlier this year. At CES, for example, Asus announced the VivoTab Note 8, powered by an Atom processor, Windows 8.1, and 2GB of RAM, and costing about $250 online. Since then, however, the trend has been to use Intel’s Atom Z3735G processor on tablets like the Acer Iconia Tab 8W, which supports only 1GB of RAM. Although per-application performance may not suffer, there are sure to be limits on how many tabs or apps you can have open at any one time.<br /> <br /> The problem for hardware makers, however, is that even with Microsoft’s decision toeliminate licensing fees for sub-9-inch devices, Windows tablet makers face steep competition from Android tablet makers, who aren’t afraid to use inexpensive ARM processors to reduce prices further. <br /> <br /> Finally, there’s there the issue of demand. Lenovo recently discontinued its 8-inch Windows tablets in the U.S., noting stronger interest in larger-size models. The company emphasized it wasn't pulling out of the category permanently, so that could indicate a retrenchment. Other manufacturers, including Microsoft, could also be reassessing their options.<br /> <br /> A Surface mini wouldn’t be a single-purpose device, although Neowin approvingly mentions that a Surface mini would be an excellent OneNote machine—and it comes with a stylus, too. Netflix has written a version of its app for Windows RT machines, and web apps would make up for other deficiencies. Still, a small screen, limited memory, and the Windows RT OS would make for a tough sell. And with Microsoft’s recent efforts to trim the fat, it would seem that killing the Surface mini would be one of Microsoft’s easier decisions.<br /> <br /> Microsoft representatives declined to comment. </div>

Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really

Microsoft's Surface mini tablet is reportedly really real, but not really According to a report, the rumored 8-inch “Surface mini” tab...

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