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.
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.
Ya, the government then wonders why "rumors" are so quickly transmitted on wechat and no one trusts the official press.
I prefer the nytimes, any newspaper that gets blocked by the great firewall of china must be doing something right. The article about Xi Jinping's family using their family relationships to get rich was spot on, but then that story could be applied to any official's family. They have actual standards and refuse to be intimidated by the CCP. The BBC is too harmonious in comparison, useless to me when I need real news about the country I'm living in.
I never claimed nytimes wasn't biased, just nowhere near as biased as Chinese news media, which is all the propaganda you would imagine in an authoritarian communist country. Chinese media is so bad, actually, they make foxnews look respectable in comparison.
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.