Xiaomi will launch MiLens, a Google Lens competitor for China, with the Mi Mix 2S
27 March 2018
Xiaomi will launch MiLens, a Google Lens competitor for China, with the Mi Mix 2S
We’re a few hours away from the launch of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S and the Huawei P20, but while the latter device has had nearly every aspect leaked already, there’s still a few things that aren’t that clear about the Mi Mix 2S. We know that it’ll launch with Android Oreo, wireless charging, a design that’s similar to the Mi Mix 2 (and not the corner notch as earlier rumors suggested), and some camera enhancements, but we haven’t heard much about its software. With the imminent release of the device, we have obtained access to the MIUI 9 China stable ROM—the software release that will be present at launch time. Within the firmware we have discovered a new app called “MiLens” and it’s poised to be a Google Lens alternative for the China market.
The following information is based on firmware files obtained by @FunkyHuawei, the man behind the FunkyHuawei.club service, which allows users to update, unbrick, or rebrand Huawei and Honor phones for a fee. He has provided access to these firmware files exclusively to XDA-Developers.
Xiaomi MiLens on the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S
Virtual assistants are a hot market these days, but only a few stand a chance in the competitive industry. Among them are Amazon, Google, and to a lesser extent Apple and Samsung. The dominance of these companies has pushed Chinese giant Huawei to develop HiAssistant solely for the Chinese market, and it appears that Xiaomi will follow suit.
The pre-installed MiLens application offers integrations with some of China’s largest online services including Baidu, Taobao, and Alibaba. From what we can see, this isn’t a full-fledged virtual assistant, as it focuses mostly on image search. Given what is mentioned in the strings, the purpose of this application is to provide an easy way to discover products on each of these services and then facilitate payment online.
When the Mi Mix 2S is officially announced, we’ll probably catch a live demonstration of the MiLens app in action. Since this app is exclusive to China, it probably won’t interest most of you all that much. Still, it’s nice to keep up with the software offerings of devices in China as often they will make their way over to international markets in some form.