Three-stage folding, this may be the folding screen phone that Xiaomi is about to release

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Samsung demonstrated its foldable phone in November last year. At the same time, Google's Android user experience director Glen Murphy also said at the press conference that Android will natively support such foldable screen phones in the future. It seems that more manufacturers will announce their own foldable devices this year, and according to the latest leak, Xiaomi may be the largest player in this field.

Evan Blass, the whistleblower, posted a video on Twitter today. This short 20-second video shows a device with a screen that can be folded from the left and right sides (let's call it a "three-section foldable" device). The operator turns on the screen, unlocks it, slides the desktop, and opens Google Maps. When the device is folded back from the two ends of the screen, the device changes from tablet display mode to mobile mode, and the map application automatically switches to adapt to the current screen size. *** Back to the homepage, the UI has also been optimized for mobile mode.

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Judging from the demonstration, the experience of this device is relatively "smooth". At the same time, the user interface of the device is also more like Xiaomi's MIUI (the system settings interface in the video shows "MIUI 10").

Blass said in a tweet that he could not confirm the authenticity of the video, but it was allegedly from Xiaomi.

Earlier, it was reported that Xiaomi's foldable phone UI can adapt to three modes: full unfolding, single folding and double folding. It is said that the size of the phone after double folding is about 5.3 inches. As for the release time, it is rumored that this device will be unveiled on January 10 and will be launched in the second half of this year. In addition, the name of the device may be MIX Flex.

It is also worth noting that TechNode roughly analyzed the map location information in the video and found that although its location point is somewhere in Zhufang Village, Beijing, considering that Google Maps has a location offset of about 500 meters in China, after correction, the location of this device is exactly at the Xiaomi R&D Center. In other words, the device is most likely from Xiaomi.

CES 2019 will open next week, and Xiaomi may also announce more information about foldable phones during the event (not necessarily on site).

Xiaomi announced yesterday that its entry-level mobile phone brand Redmi has become a new independent brand, and will hold a press conference in Beijing at 2 pm on January 10. Combined, although the press conference time is the same, considering Redmi's entry-level mobile phone brand attributes, foldable phones are high-end products at this stage, so basically the company's foldable screen phones will still belong to the Xiaomi mobile phone brand.

Lei Jun posted a Weibo on Wednesday saying "Welcome Lu Weibing", with a picture showing Lu Weibing, the former president of Gionee, sitting with Lei Jun, Li Wanqiang and Lin Bin. In the comments below this Weibo post, Lei Jun further confirmed that Lu Weibing has joined Xiaomi. It is reported that Lu Weibing may be responsible for the Redmi brand after joining Xiaomi.