Xiaomi Mikey, a copy of Kickstarter’s Pressy?


Not many are aware of this, but Xiaomi makes more than just cool smartphones; the company is known for its merchandise and addons as well, apart from other consumer electronics products.

Earlier today, Xiaomi showcased the MiKey, which is basically a 3.5mm plug designed to work with your Xiaomi smartphone. Not only will it protect your smartphone from dust, but it’ll actually act as an accessory using which you can control your device. The design is pretty straightforward — there’s just one button on the plug, which also helps keep it limited in size.

Mi-Key

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Depending on the number of clicks, certain applications/shortcuts can be assigned. Say for example, you are a sting operator. You require the services of your Xiaomi’s camera on short notice. You can simply assign one click to trigger the camera shutter/video, saving you the time and effort.

MI-Key-2

From what we make from the chart, the MiKey can recognize up to 10 clicks, which you can use to trigger different actions on your Xiaomi smartphone. The Xiaomi MiKey will go on sale starting 8th April for 4.9 Yuan ($0.80), which is perhaps when you can start ordering the accessory from your favourite reseller.

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80 Comments

  1. יואב שטרנברג
    March 30, 2014

    Where can i order it?!?

  2. יואב שטרנברג
    March 30, 2014

    Where can i order it?!?

  3. bobo
    March 30, 2014

    very innovative.

    • Jay
      March 30, 2014

      Fully agree

    • Qwerty
      March 30, 2014

      Haha, it already exist and its called pressy and costs $17

      • Fred
        March 30, 2014

        $27 USD

      • bobo
        March 30, 2014

        But Pressy can’t be bought right now, can it?

      • Rob
        March 31, 2014

        Press costs a lot more and Kickstart order have to be shipped. And it’s been a while since I have gotten an update email about it. I think it was delayed until mid may.

  4. March 30, 2014

    many people want dedicated button for camera, it is strange that it wasn’t done before Xiaomi, so simple and rational

    • fgdfg
      March 30, 2014

      It was done before Xiaomi; http://get.pressybutton.com/

      • March 31, 2014

        didn’t know that, but pressy is still pre-sale, and unfortunately for pressy it will be smashed by its competitors

        • Kevin Cagle
          March 31, 2014

          Xiaomi is just blatantly stealing the authors IP. Xiaomi is somehow involved with Pressy production in China and shipping them bunk product while they rush this complete ripoff to market.

  5. Arash
    March 30, 2014

    Cool!

  6. Cuerex
    March 30, 2014

    wasn’t this on kickstarter before?

    • March 30, 2014

      Not exactly this, but yeah ‘Pressy’ as it is known as, goes for $27 apiece.

      • ben
        March 30, 2014

        what is the difference between this and pressy?

        • Arash
          March 30, 2014

          Same idea, the difference may be in configuration of the hardware – no of clicks etc

        • April 2, 2014

          nothing, substantive. perhaps the pressy is better quality.

          so for US$27, by 35 MiKeys and have extras if you break them or loose them…

  7. Jay
    March 30, 2014

    Holy Christ! That’s some innovation, and a killer at it!

    Thank you for sharing Yash.

  8. Ivo001
    March 30, 2014

    People think this is innovative, but it is not very different to Pressy, it’s just much cheaper.

    • April 2, 2014

      Irrelevant. Pressy builds on the foundation of other ideas that came before it. It’s quite simple internally, and so there isn’t much differentiable that others could do.

  9. bobo
    March 30, 2014

    very innovative.

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      Fully agree

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      Haha, it already exist and its called pressy and costs $17

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      $27 USD

    • bobo
      March 30, 2014

      But Pressy can’t be bought right now, can it?

    • Guest
      March 31, 2014

      Press costs a lot more and Kickstart order have to be shipped. And it’s been a while since I have gotten an update email about it. I think it was delayed until mid may.

  10. egoi7t
    March 30, 2014

    many people want dedicated button for camera, it is strange that it wasn’t done before Xiaomi, so simple and rational

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      It was done before Xiaomi;

    • egoi7t
      March 31, 2014

      didn’t know that, but pressy is still pre-sale, and unfortunately for pressy it will be smashed by its competitors

    • Kevin Cagle
      March 31, 2014

      Xiaomi is just blatantly stealing the authors IP. Xiaomi is somehow involved with Pressy production in China and shipping them bunk product while they rush this complete ripoff to market.

  11. Guest
    March 30, 2014

    Cool!

  12. Cuerex
    March 30, 2014

    wasn’t this on kickstarter before?

    • Yash Garg
      March 30, 2014

      Not exactly this, but yeah ‘Pressy’ as it is known as, goes for $27 apiece.

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      what is the difference between this and pressy?

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      Same idea, the difference may be in configuration of the hardware – no of clicks etc

    • Dave Weinstein
      April 2, 2014

      nothing, substantive. perhaps the pressy is better quality.

      so for US$27, by 35 MiKeys and have extras if you break them or loose them…

  13. Guest
    March 30, 2014

    Holy Christ! That’s some innovation, and a killer at it!

    Thank you for sharing Yash.

  14. March 30, 2014

    Will it be useable on non Xiaomi Android devices? Any Info on that?

    • Feher
      March 30, 2014

      It will definitely work with any Android Device.

      • March 30, 2014

        Ty, does xiaomi publish the neccessary app as apk or do we even will see it in the playstore?

    • March 31, 2014

      Not sure about that, don’t think it will

  15. Ivo001
    March 30, 2014

    People think this is innovative, but it is not very different to Pressy, it’s just much cheaper.

    • Dave Weinstein
      April 2, 2014

      Irrelevant. Pressy builds on the foundation of other ideas that came before it. It’s quite simple internally, and so there isn’t much differentiable that others could do.

  16. Arash
    March 30, 2014

    Kudos to Pressy Team for the idea! The device is unbelievably simple and efficient.
    Has Xiaomi got the rights for manufacturing this device?

  17. ★Marco Gö†ze
    March 30, 2014

    Will it be useable on non Xiaomi Android devices? Any Info on that?

    • Guest
      March 30, 2014

      It will definitely work with any Android Device.

    • ★Marco Gö†ze
      March 30, 2014

      Ty, does xiaomi publish the neccessary app as apk or do we even will see it in the playstore?

    • Yash Garg
      March 31, 2014

      Not sure about that, don’t think it will

  18. Guest
    March 30, 2014

    Kudos to Pressy Team for the idea! The device is unbelievably simple and efficient.
    Has Xiaomi got the rights for manufacturing this device?

    • ★Marco Gö†ze
      March 30, 2014

      This is china… nough said.

  19. Chris Rowley
    March 31, 2014

    I would not trust this to work as planned nor be supported very well.

  20. Chris Rowley
    April 1, 2014

    I would not trust this to work as planned nor be supported very well.

  21. andro
    April 1, 2014

    it was pioneered by pressy, was on kickstarter months back.

  22. andro
    April 1, 2014

    it was pioneered by pressy, was on kickstarter months back.

  23. 4lexO
    April 1, 2014

    Xiaomi stole the idea. I bought Pressy Button. I prefer pay 27$ for an innovative idea rather than chinese copy ! If you want pay 0,59$ stealers, do it. But you will pay stealers.

    • ratese
      April 4, 2014

      pressy are scammers only, nothing else.

    • Dumbass
      April 6, 2014

      You’re a dumbass most ideas are stole, yet you only target Chinese. Fucking bias piece of shit.

  24. 4lexO
    April 1, 2014

    Xiaomi stole the idea. I bought Pressy Button. I prefer pay 27$ for an innovative idea rather than chinese copy ! If you want pay 0,59$ stealers, do it. But you will pay stealers.

    • Guest
      April 5, 2014

      pressy are scammers only, nothing else.

    • Guest
      April 7, 2014

      You’re a dumbass most ideas are stole, yet you only target Chinese. Fucking bias piece of shit.

  25. Guest
    April 2, 2014

    OK. I’ve got a very basic question. Will it work with non-Xiaomi devices?

    Presumably, there’s an app that needs to be loaded to make the device do anything. Or is there?

    Now, for all you folks complaining about “lack of innovation”, the Pressy is NOT innovative. people have been sticking things into holes that they don’t belong in for a long time. Women know that men have been trying to “go in though the out door” since… well… forever.

    Anyone walking around Hong Kong or Shenzhen will see that tons of people have bought plastic dongles that plug into the headphone jack. In fact, while I can’t remember the phone, I do remember an old device that used the headphone plug as the anchor for a stylus on a lanyard.

    None of you would be crying “foul” if Xiaomi made a stylus. No cries to burn them at the stake to defend the honor of the Galaxy Note. Nor should you. The only difference here, other than the fact that Samsung “stole” the stylus from some earlier products, is that Pressy is a kickstarter project, and so a company doing the same thing as a garage inventor MUST be evil.

    Overall, I think that Pressy fails the obviousness rule, it’s not clear HOW the Pressy creator is planning on suing people that “copy” his work, but I don’t think it will be for patent infringement. Perhaps, he’ll sue them on the basis of “causing him emotional distress”… 😛

    The outrageous part is that the Pressy costs US$27. Clearly Xiaomi are making a profit, and they’re selling their version for $0.80. Regardless of how “high quality” Pressy claims to be, the gap in price is ridiculous. Pressy’s creator is pissed off because he want you all to fund his lifestyle. He’s afraid of competition because he’s selling his gadget with a 10000% margin.

  26. Guest
    April 2, 2014

    OK. I’ve got a very basic question. Will it work with non-Xiaomi devices?

    Presumably, there’s an app that needs to be loaded to make the device do anything. Or is there?

    Now, for all you folks complaining about “lack of innovation”, the Pressy is NOT innovative. people have been sticking things into holes that they don’t belong in for a long time. Women know that men have been trying to “go in though the out door” since… well… forever.

    Anyone walking around Hong Kong or Shenzhen will see that tons of people have bought plastic dongles that plug into the headphone jack. In fact, while I can’t remember the phone, I do remember an old device that used the headphone plug as the anchor for a stylus on a lanyard.

    None of you would be crying “foul” if Xiaomi made a stylus. No cries to burn them at the stake to defend the honor of the Galaxy Note. Nor should you. The only difference here, other than the fact that Samsung “stole” the stylus from some earlier products, is that Pressy is a kickstarter project, and so a company doing the same thing as a garage inventor MUST be evil.

    Overall, I think that Pressy fails the obviousness rule, it’s not clear HOW the Pressy creator is planning on suing people that “copy” his work, but I don’t think it will be for patent infringement. Perhaps, he’ll sue them on the basis of “causing him emotional distress”… 😛

    The outrageous part is that the Pressy costs US$27. Clearly Xiaomi are making a profit, and they’re selling their version for $0.80. Regardless of how “high quality” Pressy claims to be, the gap in price is ridiculous. Pressy’s creator is pissed off because he want you all to fund his lifestyle. He’s afraid of competition because he’s selling his gadget with a 10000% margin.

  27. July 16, 2014

    I buy iKey from ebay but it dont work with any app, Samsung Galaxy S2

  28. Patrik PATWIST Žec
    July 16, 2014

    I buy iKey from ebay but it dont work with any app, Samsung Galaxy S2

  29. Michael Das
    August 18, 2014

    IS offering a altenative for 2.99 with a coupon DJ4GB
    http://www.tabletland.com/

  30. Michael Das
    August 19, 2014

    IS offering a altenative for 2.99 with a coupon DJ4GB
    http://www.tabletland.com/