Xiaomi did something interesting with Snapdragon 810 It's not exactly a new strategy, LG having taken a similarly collaborative approach with Qualcomm in the development of the G4. There, the chip in question was the Snapdragon 808, however, but the dividend paid off: even though, on paper, the G4 should be slower than the One M9, in reality the experience is pretty much the same.

So, I was curious to see whether Xiaomi could achieve the same sort of thing, punching above the Snapdragon 810's weight, with its enhancements. Unfortunately, without a US-spec device - Xiaomi maintains it has no current plans to bring the Mi Note Pro to the US - and a couple of weeks to test it out, blunter measures will have to suffice for now.

Xiaomi did something interesting with Snapdragon 810 Where the Mi Note Pro distinguishes itself is in how the Snapdragon 810 has been massaged. It's not wrong to say Qualcomm found itself living in unexpectedly contentious times with the launch of the new chipset, facing accusations of phones that overheat and underwhelmingly-incremental performance improvements over its predecessor.

Xiaomi's answer has been to work on a custom iteration of the 810. The silicon itself is the same as the chip in the One M9 and the G Flex 2, but it's been optimized by Xiaomi and Qualcomm working together, building on the observations by both companies of the first phones to use the chipset.

Xiaomi did something interesting with Snapdragon 810 f you're a smartphone company that doesn't make its own mobile processors, you're at a disadvantage. Xiaomi isn't at the scale to follow Apple and Samsung and dive into quite silicon yet - though the increasingly popular manufacturer is growing rapidly - but that doesn't mean the latest Mi Note Pro doesn't have a performance edge over Snapdragon 810-powered rivals like the HTC One M9.

Usually they're rarer than hen's teeth in North America, so you can consider me curious when I had the opportunity to do some benchmarking with the fettled phone. Xiaomi hasn't slacked on specs to begin with, though at the same time most of the Mi Note Pro's components are what we've come to expect from top-tier Android devices. The 4GB of RAM is unusual

Xiaomi and Qualcomm On the one hand, I can appreciate that a bouquet of well-selected benchmarks can be a solid way of comparing the performance of two or more devices. Conversely, though, it's too easy to get caught up in figures and miss the bigger usability picture; I'm firmly of the opinion that real-world experience trumps numbers and charts every time.

My big question, then, was simple: was there a noticeable improvement in performance, that could translate - or contribute - to a more speedy phone? The numbers seem to hold true to the whispers I heard of a roughly 20-percent boost seen internally. You can see the full results in the gallery below, but the Mi Note Pro generally falls somewhere in-between the One M9 and Qualcomm's 810 reference design

Xiaomi Mi Note Pro launching mid May Xiaomi will be launching yet another sizeable smartphone this coming middle of the month. The date is slated to be this 12th of the May. As we just said about its size, the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro will measure 5.7 inches for the QHD 2560 x 1440 pixels and 515 ppi display. As for its power, it will be with an octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor with an Adreno 430 GPU.

It is packed with 4GB of RAM plus a sizeable 64GB of storage. The 3090 mAh battery can be quickly charged using Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology. Size matters here, and that goes for the back camera with a 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). The front camera is quite huge as well, with 4MP, so that you won't get low res selfies.

Interactive T-Shirts Geeky T-shirts aren't exactly new, but put in some electronics, a few AA batteries, turn down the lights and you can actually have an equalizer dancing on your chest, reacting to the sounds around you. Another kind of interactive shirt is one that makes sound – the electronic drum kit shirt has 7 spots that generate sounds when you push down on them.

T-shirts like these are cheap to come by as they do not need high tech wizardry, just an electronic board that you have to remove before handwashing these T-shirts.

The Kindle isn't exactly new -- Amazon launched the first Kindle e-reader in 2007. But in late 2011, Amazon updated its line of electronic book readers and the tech world took notice.

As of the time of this writing, there are six models of the Kindle. The basic Kindle is a paperback-sized e-reader with a five-way controller priced at $79. That alone was enough to grab the attention of tech journalists.

Mattress is very comfortable. Not too firm or soft. It never took the original shape even after week. It's not genuine Serta product. It's made by Sleep Innovation for Serta.

Even with this U shape, mattress is very comfortable. Not too firm or soft. No ache and pain in the mornings like our previous mattress. We don't see any air channels like Novafoam. We will be replacing this mattress with Novafoam soon due to its defect. Amazon customer service was exceptional. They helped us trying to sort this thing out. Serta Review.

I don't enjoy cooking so having something (anything!) to help me in the kitchen is welcome. Health: As I become more aware of food, I strive to cook more food from scratch and the Thermomix is great for this sort of thing.

I try more and make things myself that I would have purchased pre-packed. So for example, when making the children's birthday cakes, in the past I would buy pre-made sponges to decorate. Now, I make my own cakes, like these two recent creations below made with a chocolate cake centre and cream cheese icing.

Holiday Gift Guide 2015 15 Headphones Over $100. Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H6. The H6 has become a very, very popular line of headphones for B&O and the Swedish brand has taken their time to bring such a product to market, and it's really paid off.

Available in a range of wicked colors, the H6 sounds great no matter what you listen to and they make the most of your music in comfort and style. They might be pricey, but they're built to last. A limited-edition over-ear headphone in black cowhide leather with rose golden aluminum accents. BeoPlay H6 is comfortable enough to wear all day long.