In late November 2020 a Patently Apple posted a continuation patent report about a possible future iPhone with a full wraparound display that was originally reported on back in 2013. Our 2020 report included news of Xiaomi's concept phone dubbed the Mi Mix Alpha that presented a wraparound display. It's still presented and detailed on their site here. It was first released in 2019 in a limited edition, likely for promotion. Vlogger Marques Brownlee reviewed it in February 2020. Other sites promoted it and even gave it a price of $2,800 even though you still can't buy it, even on Xiaomi's site.

Xiaomi learned a valuable marketing lesson from this. Android fans will get hyped over 'future" concept products if they're made to appear sexy enough. It's a way for the company to look innovative when in reality they can't deliver what they're promoting in a timely manner. The Mi Mix Alpha wasn't that advanced, so why isn't it on the market? Because it was just a part of a marketing campaign.

Today, Xiaomi is back at it again. They want to get ahead of the competition by imagining a possible future product that consumers want to have now. So making it sound like its just around the corner boosts Xiaomi's image as an innovating leader. The thing is, it's just a marketing ploy that sounds oh-so real.  

An announcement from Xiaomi's Beijing Office today introduced a brand new form of charging – Mi Air Charge Technology that the company is making us feel is close to coming to market. The company stated that they're revolutionizing the current wireless charging methods with the Mi Air Charge Technology which will enable users to remotely charge electronic devices without any cables or wireless charging stands.

Mi Air Charge Technology – 5W Remote Charging

Xiaomi's marketing material states: "The core technology of Xiaomi’s remote charging lies in space-positioning and energy transmission. Xiaomi’s self-developed isolated charging pile has five phase interference antennas built in, which can accurately detect the location of the smartphone. A phase control array composed of 144 antennas transmits millimeter-wide waves directly to the phone through beamforming.

On the smartphone side, Xiaomi has also developed a miniaturized antenna array with built-in "beacon antenna" and "receiving antenna array." Beacon antenna broadcasts position information with low power consumption. The receiving antenna array composed of 14 antennas converts the millimeter wave signal emitted by the charging pile into electric energy through the rectifier circuit, to turn the sci-fi charging experience into reality.

Currently, Xiaomi remote charging technology is capable of 5-watt remote charging for a single device within a radius of several meters. Apart from that, multiple devices can also be charged at the same time (each device supports 5 watts), and even physical obstacles do not reduce the charging efficiency."

Today, Xiaomi teased their fan base with a peek at true wireless charging in the form of a promotional video. No it's not a product, it's just another Willy Wonka marketing mirage.  Though I have to admit, it's slicker than the average industry rumor and it's being eaten up on social media.  Rumors are like opioids to this generation.

Xiaomi is currently the fifth largest smartphone vendor in China as presented in a Counterpoint report published today.

After seeing the Xiaomi promotion, reportedly a Motorola executive took to Weibo to post a video of their prototype dubbed the "Motorola One Hyper" that's not to be confused with one of the smartphones by the same name. You could view the Weibo video illustrating the system here.