If there is one criticism that some have of Chinese companies is that they tend to take the ideas of others, create something similar, and release it at a fraction of the price. We’ve seen this happen many times in the past regarding cloned phones, computers, and other electronics.
This time round, Chinese company Xiaomi has recently released a new accessory that they’re calling the MiKey. What the MiKey does is that it plugs into your smartphone’s headphone jack and with a single button, allows users to customize what sort of functions it will be allowed to perform.
This includes taking a photo, dialing a specific contact, launching an app, and so on. If you’re wondering why this sounds so familiar, it’s because back in 2013, a Kickstarter project for an accessory called the Pressy was launched. The Pressy essentially offers the same features as Xiaomi’s MiKey, but here’s where it gets interesting.
Unlike the Pressy which is priced at $27 each, Xiaomi’s offering is said to be priced at roughly $0.79. Yup, you read that right, Xiaomi’s offering is only a fraction of the Pressy’s asking price, and if it is able to do everything the Pressy can do, well safe to say that they’ve blown the competition right out of the water.
Now this is not the first time the Pressy has been cloned and according to its creator, Nimrod Back, they are considering legal action against copycats so it is possible that Xiaomi could run into some legal trouble when the MiKey is launched stateside. No word on when Xiaomi plans on launching the MiKey stateside, but in China it will be seeing a release on the 8th of April. What do you guys think?
Filed in . Read more about Xiaomi.