There are rumors that Xiaomi is working with Microsoft to create a new Windows 10 tablet. The device may release as early as on August 16, 2015.
The report originated from Pan Jiutang, a Chinese technology analyst, who revealed online that Xiaomi and Microsoft are collaborating on a new tablet model that will run on Windows 10 instead of Xiaomi’s own MIUI operating system. The device is expected to launch sometime in the third quarter of 2015, most likely on August 16. Jiutang did not provide more details about the upcoming tablet. It is still uncertain whether the product will run on Windows Mobile or the basic Windows 10. There are also rumors that a dual-boot product will be launched, allowing to run on both Android and Windows 10.
The idea of the two companies creating a new tablet is not completely foreign. Microsoft and Xiaomi already partnered recently to allow Mi 4 users to join the Windows Insider program that will let them try a custom Windows 10 ROM on their Xiaomi flagship smartphones. If a product launches, Tech Times wrote that the new tablet will follow the Mi Pad 7.9 by Xiaomi, which is the company’s flagship tablet that released in June 2014.
Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President of the Operating Systems Group at Microsoft, posted an image on Twitter, which featured the Xiaomi Mi 4 running on Windows 10 build 10240.
“10! The beautiful Xiaomi Mi4! I've been carrying this as my daily driver for about a week, on 10240. It's LOVELY!” Belfiore tweeted.
“We intend to start our insider program in China with Xiaomi phones in the next few weeks… The software is running very nicely on these!” he continued.
First Post reported that Microsoft is aggressively entering the heavily pirated Chinese consumer computing industry in the summer of 2015 by offering upgrades to Windows 10 to all Windows users for free, whether people are using genuine copies of the OS or not. Microsoft’s main objective is to provide legitimate versions of the software on hundreds of millions of Windows users in China. Based on recent studies, about three-fourths of all PC software being used in China are not properly licensed. Microsoft did not elaborate on the free upgrade but clearly have long term plans for the giant Chinese market.
More details and specifications on the new Xiaomi Windows 10 tablet are expected in the following weeks leading up to the big launch date.
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