Xiaomi unveils new Mi 4 smartphone and MiBand fitness tracker (live blog)

Xiaomi has sold 26.1 million smartphones in first half of 2014, and is still on target for 60 million this year. The upstart gadget-maker’s flagship phone, the Mi3, sold 10 million units in the first nine month after it went up for sale. And that’s why Xiaomi has a launch event today – to reveal its next flagship phone, which will probably be called the Mi 4.

Here’s our live blog (event started 2pm Beijing time). Please refresh this page every few minutes for updates:

#14:10: Here’s the first big stat from Xiaomi – it’s sold 57.36 million phones in its first three years of operation, says founder Lei Jun onstage.

#14:12: There’s the sales breakdown: 7.9 million Xiaomi M1 phones, 17.4 million Xiaomi Mi2 series, 10.5 million Xiaomi Mi3, 18 million Hongmi (Redmi outside China), and 3.56 million Hongmi Note (or Redmi Note).

#14:16: So clearly its cheaper (yet larger-screened) Hongmi/Redmi series is working out well.

#14:22: Remember that Xiaomi is currently selling to mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and India. Other countries in the pipeline include Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and Brazil.

#14:26: Lei says that Xiaomi’s MIUI OS/ecosystem, which it has built on top of Android, now has 65 million users.

#14:44: MIUI V6, the next version of its Android skin, comes out August 16.

#14:46: Here it is: New Xiaomi Mi 4 being detailed by Lei.

#14:49: Some Xiaomi Mi 4 specs: Snapdragon 801 processor tuned to 2.5GHz, 3GB RAM, 5-inch screen at 1080p HD, 13MP rear camera and 8MP front camera.

#14:51: The Xiaomi Mi 4 screen is the same as the Mi3, but this one has a newer processor, more RAM, and a much stronger selfie camera on the front.

#14:53: Still no images of the Mi 4 yet.

#14:54: Ah! Here it is, and it’s just the same as the leaks a few weeks back: