Offical CyanogenMod 13 is arriving this Christmas

Cyanogen Inc. has been spilling the beans on its plans for 2016 today and there appear to be plenty of projects on the way, including new hardware, developer support and a Marshmallow version of its custom Android operating system.

Being a software company, we’ll start with CyanogenMod 13. The OS will be based on Android Marshmallow and the company is planning to have a stable build ready before the end of the year, but that could slip into early 2016. The new version of Cyanogen OS for retail products will then follow in the New Year. Interestingly, the OS will make use of common APIs and SDKs to tie into partner apps directly, meaning that the OS developer doesn’t have to provide and preload a lot of apps itself. These apps can also then presumably vary slightly depending on the region or handset manufacturer, without providing overlapping software.

This new operating system will play a key role in company’s vision for future hardware, which will be produced in partnership with a selection of currently unknown manufacturers in a number of regions. Cyanogen plans to offer inexpensive handsets with a bloatware free experience and an up-to-date OS, sort of like Android One intended. Cyanogen is sticking to the budget segment of the market for now though, with prices targeted at the $75-$100 range. The entry-level segment is already highly competitive, but Cyanogen is hoping that its streamlined, bloat free experience will make its phones stand out.

Cyanogen’s Steve Klondik also briefly mentioned that the company may release a flagship smartphone as well. Although, he didn’t explicitly confirm the existence of such a device or a release time frame, so this all appears to still be in quite the early planning stages right now.

Cyanogen didn’t really manage to hit the mainstream in 2015, but perhaps the company’s ambitious plans for 2016 will see its custom flavour of Android land in a few more hands next year.

Xiaomi adds heart-rate monitoring to its incredibly cheap $16 fitness tracker

How much extra does it cost to buy a heart-rate monitor for a wearable? If you looked at Fitbit's products, you'd say $20 — that's the difference in price between the $129.95 Charge and heart-rate sensing $149.95 Charge HR. For Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi, however, the cost is just $3. The company's new Mi Band Pulse, which incorporates an optical sensor to measure blood flow, will sell for $16 — just $3 more than the original Mi Band fitness tracker it released last year.

XIAOMI CLAIMS THE MI BAND IS THE THIRD MOST POPULAR WEARABLE GLOBALLY

It's incredibly low prices like these that are helping Xiaomi succeed in the wearables market. Although the company's products are only available in China and some neighboring countries, it's already the third biggest wearables vendor in the world, according to estimates from IDC. Market analysts claim that Xiaomi shipped some 3.1 million units in the second quarter of 2015, behind Apple (3.6 million) and Fitbit (4.4 million), but ahead of Garmin (0.7 million) and Samsung (0.6 million). Of course, comparing the pricey Apple Watch and the $16 Mi Band Pulse ignores how much more revenue Apple is making, but in terms of pure volume, Xiaomi is still doing extremely well.

The new Mi Band Pulse will go on sale on Singles Day in China on November 11th. Although this isn't a well-known calendar event in the West, it's the largest online shopping day in the world, with sales that dwarf both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It's a frenzy of shopping that's perfectly suited for cheap, impulse buys like the Mi Band Pulse, which, as well as monitoring users' heart-rate, can track activity, unlock their phones, and lasts up to 30 days on a single charge. Xiaomi hasn't announced any plans to offer the device worldwide, although on its Facebook page the company is asking: "Would you like to see this launched in your country too?

SOURCE: Xiaomi