We previously wrote about Pressy, an extra hardware button which fits in your headphone jack. The button can then be programmed to perform various functions such as launching a camera, flashlight, and more.
Did Xiaomi copy Pressy?
While Pressy was a Kickstarter project which was successfully funded, now a Chinese manufacturer named as Xiaomi has announced a user configurable hardware button that fits into your Xiaomi phone headset jack. This new Xiaomi hardware button might look somewhat different from Pressy, but it basically works the same.
The button can be configured to perform 10 different tasks for 10 different click types. What will be launched with each click can be configured via a dedicated app. However, most users won’t find it convenient to configure anything more than three or four clicks to launch a specific application. It should be compatible with most new Xiaomi handsets, but if will it work on any other Android device or not is not clear at this time.
This new device from Xiaomi costs under $1 and will be available from April 8 in China. Pressy on the other hand costs $27. For some users, pricing is an important factor and such users might consider opting for Xiaomi’s offering. Since Pressy is a crowd funded device, it might not be able to gain a larger following, while Xiaomi’s MiKey (a possible name of this device) if not more popular, at least it would most likely be a hit in China.
Hugo Barra is asking users about suggestions on naming this new device. Do you want it to be named Mi Button, Mi Key, Mi Press or something else entirely? You can head over to Google+ to give your suggestions.
Now that Xiaomi has ‘cloned’ Pressy, we won’t be surprised if one company sues the other.
