The Chinese smartphone maker said these two technologies will be key for the firm’s growth strategy within the next five years
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi announced plans to invest over CNY 10 billion ($1.48 billion) in areas related to artificial intelligence and the internet of things within the next five years, international press reported the company’s chairman and CEO Lei Jun as saying.
The executive highlighted that both artificial intelligence and IoT technologies will be a part of the company’s core development strategy over the coming years.
The Beijing-headquartered phone maker also plans to introduce its first 5G smartphone in the second half of this year, as it expects large-scale commercialization of 5G in the next two to three years.
“5G will be the spring of mobile phone business, as the 5G era will surely trigger a new wave of smartphone replacement demand,” Lei said.
Lei also said said Xiaomi’s smartphone business will continue to focus on innovation and quality, as well as to optimize its product portfolio.
The company’s global expansion will continue this year, with focus on the European and Latin America markets, the executive added.
NEC collaborates with Kyoto City Water Supply and Sewage Bureau on IoT-driven smart water meter
In other IoT news, Japanese IT giant NEC said it is currently taking part in the trial of an IoT-driven smart water meter as part of collaborative research between the Kyoto City Water Supply and Sewage Bureau and private enterprises.
In this collaboration, NEC will verify the workability of LoRaWAN, which will be implemented between December 2018 to May 2019 in a mountainous area of Kyoto. Smart water meters will automatically measure water consumption and transmit data to distant areas, enabling meter reading without visiting the site, NEC said.
This implementation is expected to improve customer service through the visualization of water consumption and early detection of water leakage.
In these trials, NEC aims to confirm the communications status between LoRaWAN-enabled devices and wireless base stations, even in adverse weather conditions, such as snow.
Furthermore, NEC will verify the power consumption of LoRaWAN devices that must transmit data for a long period of time using only batteries. Through these methods, the workability of LoRaWAN will be confirmed in a realistic environment, helping to identify the strengths and challenges of the technology, the Japanese company added.
