While most brands have come up with their respective smartwatches, such as the Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S series and the Huawei Watch, Xiaomi is yet to expand its presence in the segment. After a long wait and a series of rumours, Xiaomi's co-founder and vice president, Liu De, confirmed at a conference in Beijing that a Mi smartwatch will be launched soon, Gizmo China reported.
While De did not reveal the specifics of the wearable gadget, he said the company's first smartwatch would be out in the markets sometime in the second half of this year. The Chinese smartphone maker has, however, already demonstrated its interest in the product space with the launch of a new smartwatch for kids, dubbed the "Mituwatch."
On the company's plans for the future, De said that Xiaomi will not foray into the automobile sector like its home-rival LeEco, but expressed interest in electric bikes and new self-balancing walking robots like Ninebot, the report added. Xiaomi is also planning to expand its offline presence with 60 stores by the end of this year.
As for the Xiaomi smartwatch, rumours have hinted at a round dial look with brushed metal design and pulse wave velocity identification feature, GSMArena reported. Xiaomi's presence in the wearable gadget market is significant mainly because of its ultra-affordable Mi Band fitness tracker.
In yet another confirmation, Xiaomi has marked a launch event on May 10, where it will unveil the new Mi Max smartphone, the Mi Band 2 fitness tracker, and the new MIUI 8 ROM. The Mi Band 2 is expected to come with a tiny display, which is the only piece of information available on the new wearable device.
The company's biggest announcement at the event is going be the MIUI 8, which is expected to bring radical changes and "new designs beyond your imagination," the company had said in a post on its official MIUI forum.
