​The Tesla Model S doesn't have onboard navigation in China

   

Take a Tesla Model S for a spin in the US or Europe, and you'll have the help of a integrated navigation system to help you find your way. In China, you'll have to unfold a traditional,paper map. Local drivers are learning that the country's aversion to Google services keeps Tesla from employing its usual map solution, leaving the sedan unequipped to guide its users through the streets of Shanghai. It's an unfortunate situation, but it won't last forever -- Tesla says that it's working on a solution that supports Chinese voice and text recognition, and expects to update cars in the Chinese market with navigation features later this year. Check out Asysha Webb's ChinaEV blog at the source link below for Tesla's full statement.

ZTE's latest fitness tracker looks just like a FuelBand

   

Why yes, here's yet another fitness band from China! Just two days after Xiaomi's $13 Mi Band, ZTE will no doubt have a hard time getting attention for its awkwardly named Grand Band. The company's second smart wearable device reminds us of the Nike+ FuelBandwith its dot-matrix LED screen plus the positioning of its sole button, but it uses an adjustable snap-on strap instead of the latter's fixed-size type. As you'd expect, the 14mm-thick, shower-friendly band packs all the common features: pedometer (with distance and calorie calculator), sleep monitor and smart alarm. Better yet, it's compatible with all Bluetooth 4.0 host devices running on iOS or Android 4.3 and above. The Grand Band will be launched in China first next month, and as a "reasonable, affordable premium" product, ZTE hinted that it'll be priced somewhere around the common 800 yuan ($130) to 1,000 yuan ($160) tier. Hmm, looks like we'll stick with Xiaomi's cheaper and slimmer device -- only if we can even get hold of one. Hands-on video after the break.

Xiaomi's latest phone gets a steel frame, IR blaster and top specs for just $320

   

Having sold 26.11 million phones in the first half of this year, the beast from the East that is Xiaomi is back again with a new flagship Android phone: the MI4. For the first time ever, the company is adding a touch of metal -- the common SAE 304 stainless steel, to be exact -- to the phone's frame, which is sandwiched between a flat 5-inch 1080p screen and a swappable, slightly curved plastic back cover. The internal specs are as you'd expect: 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 SoC, 3GB of RAM, 16GB/64GB of internal storage, 13MP f/1.8 main camera, 8MP selfie camera, LTE radio (at last), 802.11ac WiFi plus a 3,080mAh battery. As a bonus, you also get an infrared transmitter to play with the TV (which Xiaomi also sells). As usual, the MI4 will be very affordable: Just CN¥1,999 or about $320 for the 16GB version, and CN¥2,499 or about $400 for the 64GB version (both off-contract, of course).

Admittedly, from afar, the black MI4 does remind us of the iPhone 5 or 5s, but you have to give credit to Xiaomi and its partners -- Foxconn and HiP -- for the extra work gone into crafting the metal parts. The shiny chamfer alone takes more than six hours to finish, apparently, and they've also added a nano-coating to the sides to deter fingerprints and liquids. The result is a 67.5mm-wide body -- beating the Smartisan T1's 67.74mm -- that sits comfortably in your hand, and the phone only weighs 149g.
The MI4 will be available for pre-ordering in China on July 29th, and you'll also be able to pick up one of the many back covers to suit your taste -- be it bamboo, wood, leather, cloth or even stone textures. On top of that, you can add CN¥99 or about $16 for an annual insurance for broken screen plus accidental liquid damage.

The boost in Xiaomi's sales figure is helped by the company's expansion into other parts of Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and, very recently, India. You can thank ex-Googler Hugo Barra for that, who has been very hands-on with this project. On a related note, there are now 65 million activated MIUI users, who will be able to upgrade to version 6 as of August 16th. After 26.11 million phones -- which translates to 33 billion yuan or about $5.32 billion -- so far this year, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun expects to sell a grand total of 60 million phones in 2014, which would be more than twice of that from 2013. With that price point and Lei's promise to keep a tighter grip on the supply chain, this will no doubt be a walk in the park for Xiaomi.

Gionee's next smartphone promises to be the thinnest ever

   

If you thought Gionee's Elife S5.5 was ridiculously thin, you'd better hold on to your hat. China has certified an upcoming Android handset from the company, codenamed the GN9005,  that reportedly measures 5mm (0.2in) thick; that's half a centimeter less than the wafer-like Elife S5.5, and possibly the thinnest smartphone to date. You will be giving up some bells and whistles in the name of a super-slim profile, mind you. This device will have a strictly middling 4.8-inch 720p AMOLED screen, a slow quad-core 1.2GHz processor and a modest 2,050mAh battery. The 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, 8-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front shooter won't impress, either. Still, Gionee will get to claim some serious bragging rights -- at least, so long as it's not upstaged between now and the GN9005's launch.