Xiaomi Integrates Earthquake Alert System Into MIUI OS

Xiaomi today unveiled a new iteration of its virtual assistant Xiao Ai and shared a new feature of Android-based MIUI operating system as the publicly listed Chinese technology group pushes to expand its internet services ecosystem. From a report: At its annual Mi Developer conference in Beijing, the company said it is integrating an earthquake warning function into MIUI for select users in China, with plans to expand it nationwide soon. The integration, touted as the first of its kind globally, will enable alerts to be sent to smartphones running MIUI 11 and Mi TV "seconds to tens of seconds" before the quake waves arrive, Xiaomi said. The feature, which was first tested in September this year, has been developed in partnership with Institute of Care-life, a Chengdu-based organization focusing on natural disaster warning. Xiaomi said it has activated the feature for the earthquake-prone Sichuan Province and plans to expand it elsewhere in the nation soon. Wang Tun, head of the institute, said this function, unlike those available through apps in some countries, works more efficiently and does not rely on a working internet connection.

Score-based

[drinkypoo]

At its annual Mi Developer conference in Beijing, the company said it is integrating an earthquake warning function into MIUI for select users in China,

Just those with high social credit scores, right?

Re:

[RightSaidFred99]

Yes. For those with poor scores it urges them to go look outside through the nearest large window, or...I kind of ran out of steam there, but do something that's dangerous to do in an earthquake.

Re:

[RightSaidFred99]

Oooh, got it! It urges them to go clean their ears forcefully with Q-tips, get immediate laser eye surgery, or practice sword swallowing! Nailed it!

ok but what about...

[binarybum]

using a massively distributed network of accelerometers (ie. the population of china and their cellphones) to actually better detect earthquakes sooner. Might that be possible?

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

Not with phones. There are two issues that spring immediately to mind.

1. People carry their phones a lot. They put them down in cars and on trains. Even on tables at the top of tall buildings that sway in the wind. The situation where the phone is coupled with the ground well enough to get a useful reading is probably quite rare, and very difficult to detect.

2. Phone accelerometers vary hugely and it's very difficult to tell which ones are good and which ones are not.

so SMS ?

[johnjones]

"unlike those available through apps in some countries, works more efficiently and does not rely on a working internet connection."

thats nice how does it work then ? a SMS ? a GSM alert ?

details its about details...

... and as a handy side effect

[Jeremi]

... it will need to send your current location out to unspecified servers, so that they can determine whether it is appropriate to alert you regarding a given earthquake, or not.

Not that the Chinese government would ever abuse that information, of course.