back to article Xiaomi boss snaps back at Jony Ive's iPhone rival 'theft' swipe

The boss of Chinese Android mobile firm, Xiaomi, has smacked back at Apple designer Jony Ive's remarks about "iPhone-inspired" smartphones, telling him to try the phones before he slags them off. Lin Bin wants Ive sent to the sin bin after he appeared to claim that Xiaomi had nicked Apple's mobe designs. "Xiaomi is a very …

  1. Anomalous Cowshed

    Oy Xiaomi

    I think your mobile phones are crap.

    Can you send me one as a present?

    1. Mage Silver badge

      Re: Oy Xiaomi

      Only if you are a Famous person connected with a successful phone brand. So that rules out anyone at MS or RIM/Blackberry ...

      1. sabroni Silver badge

        Re: So that rules out anyone at MS or RIM/Blackberry ...

        Oooh, burn!

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      “I think it’s really straightforward: it really is theft, and it’s lazy and I don’t think it’s OK at all,” he raged. He later admitted he had maybe been “a little bit harsh” and claimed his comments made him look “perhaps a little bit bitter”.

      In other words the hoi paloi of Apple Marketing had told him his comments were not very fruity and he calmed down the vitriol. Yet, that is what they say in Cupertino about any non-Fruit Loop hardware.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Real design changes

    TBF - most of the modern smart phone designs haven't really been a game changer. IN fact, most smartphones have gone backwards in the prime use, ie, a phone. Battery life being at the forefront. They all still use a traditional style of icons and all the BS about rounded corners, or a single 'Home' button - I mean COME ON. What utter tripe and rubbish.

    As much as it pains me to say, the Windows phone 8 (7.5? I never used it) home screen with the use of tiles is probably the main differentiator at first glance. (I use vanilla Android btw)

    Personally, unless someone releases a smartphone on legs that follows me around like a little mini-butler, they are all mostly just a portal to accesssing online stuff, listening to off-line music, and making and receiving a call. Everything else is just friperry.

    Personally, the holy grail for me is just:

    Battery Life and a removable battery. (All of you!)

    Extendable storage. (WHat is your problem google and apple? Really?)

    Robustness. (meh)

    Reliability. (meh 2)

    Easily mounted on ANY computer. (I mean Android - sometimes it PAINS ME just how hard it can be to mount you, a LInux based computer, on another Linux based computer. )

    Decent audio file player. (Microsoft, do you ever, EVER use your own products? That media player would have been crap in a pre Napster world. I mean this is soo ridculous it is just NOT FUNNY)

    If companies went on about their computer design to the same extent about their phones then they would be a laughing stock.

    Is this a rant? I didn't mean it to be. I suppose it is.

    Meh 3.

    1. James 51

      Re: Real design changes

      Sounds like you want a N900 but Nokia don't make them anymore and you can't have mine.

      Some of the recent phones like the Q line and the Passport from Blackberry have been interesting experiments.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Real design changes

        Robustness? Sadly the N900 had a plastic screen and a detachable USB port.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Real design changes

      you missed out, where the stock fix for for misbehaving software is something other than "reset to factory default"

    3. chris 17 Silver badge

      Re: Real design changes

      @m0rt

      When was the last time you changed a battery or a memory card in a phone?

      most people i know who complain of these things being non replaceable on iDevices bought the cheapest crappiest memory cards and batteries from ebay for their phones and then complain when they are crap and don't work properly. Then they put loads of junk they never use on the memory card and boast about how much stuff they have on it but never use. Its like they don't understand that everything is at worst a net connection away!! Not so great on a plane but then 8GB+ is enough music for most people on any flight.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Real design changes

        When I have a removable battery? A couple of times. My Palm Pixi and my windows phone I certainly did.

        As for memory cards - I don't need to replace, but then I want to be able to move a card from more than one device. But the point is the ability to do so.

        But then if you are happy with what you have, then i am genuinely happy for you. I, however, do not think I am making an unreasonable request of the manufacturers.

        1. Obitim

          Re: Real design changes

          This is one of my deciding factors in a new phone (not the battery, despite buying Samsung phones) but having removable and by extension expandable storage is a mandatory requirement for me now

    4. SpecialGray
      Thumb Up

      Re: Real design changes

      I used to be angry with the Daily Heil. To be honest, I still am a little bit, but after thinking though my hatred,the realisation was that it is the people that buy the paper and read it, every day, without so much as a WTF, nodding at every article and agreeing with it all that really gets me stirred up.

      I would LOVE for the new iPhone to be rid of it's accursed wart with the raised glass for the rear camera, and a nice smooth back. I'd happily trade the 0.5mm or whatever it is to not only improve the looks, but also give Apple a little more space for a slightly more capacious battery. It may only be an hour's difference, but someone will appreciate it and every little helps.

      My point, of course, is that if people didn't keep lusting over thinness, they could have the larger battery , negating the need (for most people I suspect) for a removable one. The memory card is of course just a money maker for Apple. It could easily go next to the SIM card or have it's own slot, but I'm not too fussed about that one.

      1. ThomH

        Re: Real design changes @SpecialGray, the topic generally

        Most Androids don't have SD slots now either; I don't think it's only about upsell. Those pesky Microsoft patents appear also to be a concern...

        ... which is also presumably why even the Lumia 630-level of Windows Phone still has expandable memory. They also have removable batteries and are exceedingly cheap. So if anybody really prioritises those things, there's the device for you.

        1. Stuart 22

          Re: Real design changes @SpecialGray, the topic generally

          Hey you may be right. An android powered Lumia 630 might have been an even greater success for Microsoft.

    5. kmac499

      Re: Real design changes

      The worlds best designers do not copy...

      They are inspired by'

      They are influenced by,

      They channel ,

      They reinterpret

      They Homage

      They, Oh alright they Rip Off whatever they can get away with, whilst convincing their bosses it's new and innovative..

      I defy anyone to come up with a single Apple i-nnovation that did not previously exist in a competitors product.

    6. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Real design changes

      I was with you until you got to the audio player bit. Not on my list.

      Back in the day I'd have added a cellular modem complete with VT100 emulation & workable keyboard. My old Nokia Communicator brick did that. And it had rounded corners!

      Now I would add Bluetooth with remote SIM - the built-in hands-free phone in my car is much easier on the ear than any hand-portable I've ever used.

  3. TitterYeNot

    Correction...

    He later admitted he had maybe been “a little bit harsh” and claimed his comments made him look “perhaps a little bit bitter of a bell-end”.

    1. El_Fev

      Re: Correction...

      A bell end who can design , where as everyone else can only copy!

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        Re: Correction...

        "everyone else can only copy" ?

        Okay, you do an image search on the work of Dieter Rams. We'll wait.

        Copying is part of art and design. Ive shouldn't be getting huffy when his own inspirations are so obvious to anyone with a memory that goes back before 2001.

      2. John Bailey

        Re: Correction...

        "A bell end who can design , where as everyone else can only copy!"

        Yep.. Jonny's work with Braun is quite impressive..

        Lift lid.

        Insert design.

        Close lid.

        Press button.

      3. Dan 55 Silver badge
        Facepalm

        Re: Correction...

        HTC even invented a time machine to copy the iPhone 6, the bastards.

        See what Apple are up against?

        1. BristolBachelor Gold badge
          Coat

          Re: Correction...

          It's not juat mobile manufacturers. I hear that Swiss railways even stole a clock-face design from Apple. :/

      4. beanbasher

        Please remember

        That old case where Apple paid $100 million to Creative Labs.

        https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2006/08/23Apple-Creative-Announce-Broad-Settlement-Ending-Legal-Disputes-Between-the-Companies.html

  4. razorfishsl

    Ive's has got quite a cheek, over the decades Apple has also 'stolen' a number of ideas, certainly on the software front.

    Oh and Ive's your new tubular Mac pro is SHITE.

    You need to get out of the lab and go visit Dyson to see what great vacuum cleaners many of your products make, go do some research on how quickly your new products jam up with fluff and high speed impacted dust particles, just because air flows quickly does NOT always make it a good thing.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "how quickly your new products jam up with fluff "

      You're living wrong.

      If you were wearing skinny jeans and a fluff-free T shirt and living in a loft high above the city dust where the Roomba runs all the time and no dirty people are allowed, your tubular Mac wouldn't clog up.

  5. Shady
    Megaphone

    It's a rectangle...

    .. with rounded filed-off corners. You talk in one end. You listen at t'other. You poke the bit in the middle. Apart from prettying it up, there's really fuck-all you can do with it, design wise.

    1. Philippe

      Re: It's a rectangle...

      You can avoid putting a square in the middle of the home button, you can avoid having the glass floating above the metal part.

      When putting together a powerbank (i.e external battery) you might also want to avoid copying exactly the side of a magic trackpad.

      Every single smartphone bar the BB Passport are a rectangle, but only the Xiami ones are difficult to distinguish from the Apple products. Even for an Apple user.

      Nobody can avoid being inspired by others but what Xiaomi is doing is blatant copy.

      1. SkippyBing

        Re: It's a rectangle...

        'Even for an Apple user.'

        To be fair that probably says more about Apple users.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Arghhhhhhh!

    I hate typing the name of this Apple designer, not because I hate him or anything like that, but my muscle-memory keeps typing I've and I have to go back and delete that damn apostrophe.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple is trembling now.

    SO why the fuck have they not filed a lawsuit already?

    Nuff said.

  8. BleedinObvious

    Removable battery = extend your phone's usable life by years

    Greener, more economical than replacing phones every year or two, cheaper phone contracts, battery life as great as the day you bought it.

    Well that answers why Apple don't want to provide it.

    1. MD Rackham

      Re: Removable battery = extend your phone's usable life by years

      You know you can change batteries in an iPhone, right? Takes some tools and a bit of dexterity, or you can pay someone to do it for you.

      Apple would like you to buy a new phone, but you don't need to fall for that one.

      1. Intractable Potsherd

        Re: Removable battery = extend your phone's usable life by years

        You shouldn't need tools or someone with additional knowledge to change a battery! Let me put it this way - would you buy a TV with a remote that needs tools or a skilled person to change the battery? What about a torch (flashlight for the Leftpondians)? Probably not, so why let mobile phome manufacturers off the hook for really crappy design?

  9. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Xiaomi

    If these show up on the market with US specs (i.e. the bands I need) I'd definitely consider getting one. Not the $400 one but still.

  10. Sheep!
    Devil

    “I think it’s really straightforward: it really is theft, and it’s lazy and I don’t think it’s OK at all,” - or in other words pretty much everything Apple has ever made.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    > Theft

    You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means.

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