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China's Xiaomi Just Launched A $316 'Hoverboard'
http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2015/10/19/xiaomi-hoverboard-segway/
Last April Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi took part in an $80 million investment in scooter-maker Ninebot. At around the same time, Ninebot acquired its iconic American rival Segway for an undisclosed sum.
On Monday we saw the first fruits of that corporate union.
The Ninebot Mini is a self-balancing scooter or “hoverboard,” as these devices are now for better or worse, being called. Ninebot is using the same cut-price tactics that made Xiaomi famous, touting that the Ninebot Mini costs “a quarter of the price of other comparable self-balancing scooters in China,” at $316, or RMB 1,999. For now the device is only being sold in China.
Unlike most hoverboards and a little like the iconic Segway it features a knee-high handle. Xiaomi calls it a steering stick that “detects the movement of the rider’s legs using Ninebot’s latest Leansteer technology.”
The device comes with a mobile app that allows you to control the scooter’s movement (raising the prospect of steering its rider too), and to set an alarm if the scooter is moved. Xiaomi says the Ninebot Mini can travel 22 kilometres on a single charge, at a top speed of 16 kilometres (about 10 miles) an hour. It can support a weight of up to 85 kg and is relatively lightweight itself at 12.8 kg.
The device is the first product that Ninebot has launched since buying Segway, which the company describes as a “wholly-owned subsidiary.”
Xiaomi had invested in Ninebot together with Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital and WestSummit Capital.
[video=youtube;uMTCHBPDAxE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMTCHBPDAxE[/video]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2015/10/19/xiaomi-hoverboard-segway/
Last April Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi took part in an $80 million investment in scooter-maker Ninebot. At around the same time, Ninebot acquired its iconic American rival Segway for an undisclosed sum.
On Monday we saw the first fruits of that corporate union.
The Ninebot Mini is a self-balancing scooter or “hoverboard,” as these devices are now for better or worse, being called. Ninebot is using the same cut-price tactics that made Xiaomi famous, touting that the Ninebot Mini costs “a quarter of the price of other comparable self-balancing scooters in China,” at $316, or RMB 1,999. For now the device is only being sold in China.
Unlike most hoverboards and a little like the iconic Segway it features a knee-high handle. Xiaomi calls it a steering stick that “detects the movement of the rider’s legs using Ninebot’s latest Leansteer technology.”
The device comes with a mobile app that allows you to control the scooter’s movement (raising the prospect of steering its rider too), and to set an alarm if the scooter is moved. Xiaomi says the Ninebot Mini can travel 22 kilometres on a single charge, at a top speed of 16 kilometres (about 10 miles) an hour. It can support a weight of up to 85 kg and is relatively lightweight itself at 12.8 kg.
The device is the first product that Ninebot has launched since buying Segway, which the company describes as a “wholly-owned subsidiary.”
Xiaomi had invested in Ninebot together with Sequoia Capital, Shunwei Capital and WestSummit Capital.
[video=youtube;uMTCHBPDAxE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMTCHBPDAxE[/video]
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