Xiaomi Uses Official Apple Memoji Ads to Promote its 'Mimoji' Clone, Allegedly by Accident
Earlier this week, Xiaomi revealed a new digital avatar feature called "Mimoji," and the parallels to Apple's own Memoji feature were abundantly evident. Although Xiaomi sent out a press release refuting claims that it copied Apple, the company is in hot water again today for going so far as to use Apple's own ads on its website to promote Mimoji (via CX Live and Daring Fireball).
Discovered by a Weibo user earlier today, Xiaomi's product page for its upcoming Mi CC9 smartphone showcased the Apple Music Memoji ad that had Khalid's dancing avatar singing "Talk." These ads were found on e-commerce sites including JD.com and Suning, alongside Xiaomi's official Mimoji graphics.
According to Xiaomi's public relations general manager, Xu Jieyun, this was all an accident. Xiaomi staff "uploaded the wrong content" to the sites, Xu Jieyun said on Weibo.
Both Memoji and Mimoji are 3D avatars that the user can customize to make them look as similar - or dissimilar - to their own likeness as possible. Xiaomi's version includes similar art style to Apple's Memoji, as well as accessories and eyewear that all look just like Memoji.
Xiaomi has made a name for itself when it comes to copying Apple products and features. It launched the equivalent of Apple's Animojis on the Mi 8 smartphone in 2018; a device that strongly resembled the iPhone X. Earlier in 2019, it released a device that looked and functioned similarly to AirPods.
Popular Stories
Following over three months of beta testing, iOS 18 was finally widely released to the public on Monday, September 16. The update is available in the Settings app under General → Software Update on the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have highlighted eight key new features included in iOS 18, and Apple shared a complete list of new features and changes last week. Note that Apple...
It's that time of year again. Apple is about to release iOS 18, which promises to bring a range of new features and improvements to iPhones worldwide. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and the company is expected to release it sometime today – Monday, September 16. Based on past releases, the update is likely to drop at around 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time/1:00 p.m. Eastern...
Apple will likely hold another event in October this year to announce new Macs and iPads. If so, it would be the fourth time in the last five years that Apple has held an event in October. Last year, Apple held a virtual event on Monday, October 30 to announce new MacBook Pro and iMac models with the M3 series of chips. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reiterated...
Apple has seemingly leaked the rumored next-generation Mac mini with five USB-C ports, according to a code change within Apple software that was discovered today by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The code refers to an unreleased Mac mini model with an Apple silicon chip and five ports, which lines up with a previous report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman that said the next Mac mini will be ...
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today said demand for the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been "lower than expected" since the devices became available to pre-order in the U.S. and dozens of other countries on Friday. Kuo said his data is based on a "supply chain survey" and shipping estimates listed on Apple's online store. Kuo estimated that sales of all four iPhone 16 models reached...
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we sometimes get rumored feature leaks so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different – already we have some idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you plan to skip...
