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Mobvoi

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Mobvoi
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedOctober 1, 2012; 12 years ago (2012-10-01), in Beijing, China.
Founders
  • Zhifei Li
  • Yuanyuan Li (Co-Founder)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Zhifei Li (Founder & CEO)
  • Yuanyuan Li (Co-Founder)
  • Mike Lei (CTO)
  • Mei-Yuh Hwang (VP. of Engineering)
Products
  • Chumenwenwen Mobile Voice Search
  • TicAuto
  • TicMirror and TicEye
  • TicWatch
  • TicPods
Websitewww.mobvoi.com

Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited (simplified Chinese: 出门问问; traditional Chinese: 出門問問; pinyin: Chūmén Wènwèn) is a technological company headquartered in Beijing, China that sells and develops consumer electronics and Chinese voice recognition, natural language processing, and vertical search technology in-house.[1]

The core team members include ex-Googlers, AI experts, former Nokia employees, engineers and researchers from top universities such as Johns Hopkins, Harvard, MIT, Cambridge, and Tsinghua or top-tier Internet companies such as Yahoo Beijing, Baidu, Tencent, etc. Since inception, Mobvoi has raised 5 rounds of funding led by Sequoia Capital, ZhenFund, SIG, Perfect Optronics Ltd (HK listed), GoerTek (A- Share listed) and Google with total fundraising amount of US$75 million.[2]

History

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Mobvoi was founded in October 2012 by Zhifei Li.[3] In May 2013, Mobvoi released their Voice Search Service featured in the popular messaging app, WeChat.[4] In 2014, Mobvoi launched their independent voice search app called Chumenwenwen,[5] which covers over 60 vertical domains, providing various types of everyday information.[6]

In 2014, Mobvoi released their own smartwatch operating system, TicWear, based on Google's Wear OS. Among the modifications, TicWear removes Google's services, which are banned in China.[7] Mobvoi partnered with Frog Design to release TicWatch.[8]

In 2015 Google formed a strategic partnership with Mobvoi to work together on the efforts to bring Wear OS to China.[9] The Moto 360 was the first Wear OS device in China to carry Chinese voice search and voice controls powered by Mobvoi. Mobvoi also launched the Google-backed Mobvoi Store China.[10]

Then, in June 2015, Mobvoi launched the TicWatch in China, featuring their TicWear operating system. The TicWatch ranked first in sales for Android smartwatches in China, coming in second to Apple Watch on platforms such as JD.com,[11] Tmall, Suning, and Amazon. TicWatch has 100K+ users and 100M+ sales.[12]

In 2016, Mobvoi launched TicAuto,[13][14][15] an AI enabled mirror for automobiles. CES 2016 showcased Ticauto and Ticmirror in the automotive field innovations section.[16]

In June 2016, the TicWatch 2 was launched on the JD.com's crowdfunding platform, and sold over RMB 12 million within 11 days. On July 25, 2016, Mobvoi launched the TicWatch 2 Global Edition on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter achieved its goal of US$50,000 in less than ten minutes and generated over 2 million in support in less than 29 days.

In April 2017, Mobvoi launched a chatbot that can communicate with voice-activated smart home devices.[17]

Products

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Chumenwenwen is a voice-activated AI assistance app available on Android and iOS devices. It enables searches in over 60 vertical fields of interest.[18] It provides users the ability to ask it for directions, restaurant suggestions, news, and weather information, among many other options. In 2014, Chumenwenwen became the official voice service provider for Wear OS users in China.

TicAuto

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TicAuto is an in-vehicle voice app, integrating speech recognition, semantic analysis, vertical search, TTS and other advanced technology to provide voice navigation, POI search, instant messaging, and on-board entertainment.

TicMirror and TicEye

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TicMirror [19] is an in-car robot integrating Mobvoi's voice engine. TicMirror allows users to perform everything they could with TicAuto and more, with the addition of 7.84-inch touch screen that doubles as a rear view mirror. It has a 160-degree wide-angle lens, allowing it to be used as a 1080p dashcam. As an accessory to TicMirror, Mobvoi also offers TicEye,[19] an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) that provides front collision warning and lane departure warnings.

TicWatch and TicWatch 2 Global Edition

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TicWatch is Mobvoi's first attempt at creating a smartwatch powered by their TicWear operating system, a modified version of Google's Wear OS. TicWatch is compatible with Android and iOS devices. It can be used as a standalone fitness tracker and has built in GPS and heart rate sensor chipsets. TicWatch was initially introduced to the market in China. A Ticwatch 2 Global Edition was later launched for the global users on Kickstarter. The version released in China features an eSIM data connection. This feature is removed from the Global Edition due to complications with cellular partners. The Kickstarter raised over 2 million dollars in funding.[20]

TicWatch S and E

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The TicWatch S and E models are Mobvoi's second attempt at crowdfunding a smartwatch device on Kickstarter. The devices are powered by Wear OS 2.0 instead of Mobvoi's TicWear, making it the models the company's first device using Google's operating system.[21] The Kickstarter raised over 3 million dollars with more than 19,000 backers.[22]

TicWatch Pro

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The TicWatch Pro[23] was released in mid-2018 running Google's Wear OS. It features a layered display, combining an AMOLED and LCD screen to extend the battery life. The watch offers two power-saving modes. In "Smart Mode", the LCD display is always enabled, only turning the AMOLED display on when awakened by the user. This mode provides with 2–5 days of battery life. In "Essential Mode", Wear OS is shut down, and only the LCD is active, only featuring time, date, heart rate, steps and battery display. In this mode, the device is expected to provide up to 30 days of battery life.[citation needed]

The watch comes with NFC (supporting Google Pay), GPS or AGPS, accelerometer, gyro, magnetic sensor, PPG heart rate sensor, ambient light sensor and low latency off-body sensor. It is rated as IP68 water and dust resistance.

In 2020 the TicWatch Pro was upgraded to the TicWatch Pro 2020, which retained most of the original model's specifications but doubled the RAM capacity to 1 GB, and added improved durability.[24] In early 2021, a subsequent upgrade was released, the TicWatch Pro S, which again had a very similar specification to its predecessors, but featured improved sports and health tracking capabilities. An error in a press release given to the media led many to report that the storage capacity had been doubled to 8 GB, but Mobvoi confirmed that this was not the case and the internal storage capacity remained at 4 GB as on the two previous TicWatch Pro models.[25]

TicWatch C2

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The TicWatch C2[26] was released in H2 2018.

TicWatch S2 and E2

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The TicWatch S2[27] and E2[28] were announced at CES 2019[29] and were released on 22 January 2019.[30] The two watches are identical except for the design and the fact that the S2 is certified for MIL-STD-810G military-grade durability, while the E2 is not.[31]

Both are powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2100 SOC, commonly used by other Wear OS smartwatches. The S2 & E2 both have plastic cases, heart rate sensors, 415 mAh batteries, and built in GPS. They run Wear OS and have a few Mobvoi apps pre-installed including TicHealth and TicExercise. The 35 mm (1.39 in) diameter, circular OLED screen measures 979 mm2 (1.517 sq in) with 400×400 pixels giving a resolution of 114.3 dot/cm (290 DPI). The lugs use standard quick release spring bars and can be swapped with other straps including those sold by Mobvoi. They are both certified waterproof to a pressure of 5 atm (510 kPa) which means they can withstand a depth of up to 50 m (160 ft) underwater and are suitable for swimming. They have a microphone but no speaker. They do not have NFC for contactless payments nor an ambient light sensors for automatic brightness. They use the same proprietary magnetic charger by Mobvoi. They include 512 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage.

TicWatch Pro 3 GPS

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The TicWatch Pro 3 GPS[32] was launched in September 2020. It's the second watch in Mobvoi's Pro lineup, the TicWatch Pro (2020) being the first. It operates on Google's Wear OS, just like the previous smartwatches from Mobvoi.[33]

The TicWatch Pro 3 GPS is the first Wear OS watch to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 4100 chipset.[34] It uses a dual-display technology, where the main display is an AMOLED display while the second one is a low power FSTN screen. The 1.4" AMOLED display is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and comes with an IP68 water resistant rating.[35]

The watch's dimensions are 47 x 48 x 12.2 mm. It has 22 mm replaceable silicon straps. It contains minimal battery capacity of 577 mAh and nominal battery capacity of 595 mAh.

The TicWatch Pro 3 GPS comes with 1 GB RAM and 8 GB storage. The sensors include blood O2 saturation level, night infrared static heart rate sensor, accelerometer, barometer, gyroscope, ambient light sensor and GPS.

For this smart watch Mobovoi launched new applications like TicHearing, TicZen, TicOxygen and TicBreathe, while older applications like TicSleep, TicPulse and TicExercise were updated.[36]

TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS

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The TicWatch Pro 3 Ultra GPS comes with Snapdragon Wear 4100 SoC.

TicWatch Pro 5

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Released on May 5, 2023, it is the first watch with the new Snapdragon W5+ chipset. Features Wear OS 3.5 and dual displays.

References

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  1. ^ "Google Invests in Chinese Search-and-Smartwatch Startup". Wall Street Journal. October 20, 2015. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (October 20, 2015). "Google dipping toe in China with this investment". CNBC. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  3. ^ "Zhifei Li Linkedin". Linkedin.
  4. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  5. ^ "'Watch Bro' - JHU Engineering Magazine". JHU Engineering Magazine. January 12, 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  6. ^ Warc. "AI and WeChat | warc.com". www.warc.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  7. ^ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  8. ^ "Ticwatch | frog". frog. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  9. ^ Lee, Emma (June 5, 2015). "Mobvoi Launches Smartwatch Powered By Homegrown Android ROM 'TicWear'". TechNode. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  10. ^ "Google-Backed Mobvoi Launches Chinese Android Wear App Store". TechNode. January 27, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  11. ^ "The inside story of designing the all-Chinese smartwatch". Wareable. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  12. ^ "Mobvoi's TicWatch is getting an international edition this summer". Wareable. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  13. ^ - YouTube, May 12, 2016, retrieved November 30, 2016
  14. ^ "Ticauto Trademark Application of Shanghai Mobvoi Information Technology Company Limited - Serial Number 87125155 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  15. ^ M, Jason (June 8, 2016). "Ticmirror Takes On Android Auto/CarPlay". Tech My Money. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  16. ^ "【优雅智造千人发布会全程回顾，TIC四大智能新品重磅发布！】_出门问问 - 微讯啦". www.weixinla.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  17. ^ "Mobvoi launches Chinese chatbot". The Stack. April 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  18. ^ "Mobvoi Releases New in-car Infortainment App". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Mobvoi-2016上海国际车联网与智慧交通展览会". www.mmcshanghai.org. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  20. ^ "Ticwatch 2: The Most Interactive Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  21. ^ "Android Wear TicWatch S & E Launches on Kickstarter". GizmoChina. July 12, 2017. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  22. ^ "Ticwatch S & E: A Truly Optimized Smartwatch". Kickstarter. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  23. ^ "Mobvoi.com - TicWatch smartwatch TicPods Free - Official Website". www.Mobvoi.com. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  24. ^ "Compare TicWatch Pro Vs TicWatch Pro 2020".
  25. ^ "Confirmed: TicWatch Pro S does NOT have a memory upgrade". March 11, 2021.
  26. ^ "TicWatch C2 - A smartwatch that fits your digital lifestyle as much as it fits you". www.Mobvoi.com. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  27. ^ "TicWatch S2 - The best smartwatch to take your outdoor game to the next level". www.Mobvoi.com. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  28. ^ "TicWatch E2 - A smartwatch boasts a waterproof rating of 5 ATM making them swim friendly". www.Mobvoi.com. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  29. ^ Walker-Todd, Alex (January 8, 2019). "TicWatch E2 and S2 launch at CES 2019 with swim-proofing and greater longevity". Trusted Reviews. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  30. ^ "Digital Trends Review Ticwatch E2 & S2". www.digitaltrends.com. January 22, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  31. ^ "Mobvoi TicWatch S2 vs. E2: Which should you buy?". Android Central. March 6, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
  32. ^ "TicWatch Pro 3 GPS – Go Beyond Limits". www.Mobvoi.com. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  33. ^ "Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 レビュー | 世界初！SnapdragonWear4100搭載のスマートウォッチがMobvoiから登場". okomerium (in Japanese). February 17, 2021. Retrieved March 28, 2023.
  34. ^ "TicWatch Pro 3 review: Resetting the bar for Wear OS smartwatches". www.androidauthority.com/. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  35. ^ "Mobvoi TicWatch Pro 3 GPS launched but is it any good than its predecessor". MovBeans. October 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  36. ^ "Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro 3 with Snapdragon Wear 4100 launched in India: Price, specifications". mysmartprice. October 19, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
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