Last month, on 30th January, Meizu officially kicked-off its plan to commercialize the Meizu Zero smartphone and launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, with the order expected to start shipping in April this year.

Now, after around 15 days, Meizu Zero — the world’s first holeless smartphone — has managed to secure about 34 percent of its goal of raising $100,000. The company now has 16 days left to secure the rest of the amount to turn this concept phone into a reality.

If the company fails to raise the amount of $100,000 in the specified time limit, none of the company will go to the Chinese company and the existing 30 backers will get the refund. This is because the company chose the fixed goal route in which the campaign only receives funding when the goal is reached within the deadline.

In terms of specifications, the Meizu Zero features a 5.99-inch curved OLED panel with full HD+ resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. It is equipped with mSound 2.0 technology which makes it possible for the smartphone to emit sound from the screen which eliminates the need for earpiece and external speaker.

The screen of the smartphone is also embedded with an in-display fingerprint sensor — something that almost all flagship smartphones have adopted. The device also comes with an IP68 certified for dustproof and waterproof to keep it completely sealed and there’s no opening on the device.

Since there’s no holes and buttons, the smartphone is equipped with linear motor-powered pressure-sensitive virtual buttons for power ON/OFF and volume up/down functions. The rear panel of the smartphone is made up of ceramic. There is also no SIM card slot on the device but it carries support for eSIM.

Read More: Meizu’s secret product is co-developed with Astell&Kern and costs 6,999 Yuan (approximately $1,033)

The company has dubbed the smartphone as “Exclusive Engineer Unit”, priced at $1,299, and is said to be handmade by Meizu’s engineers. This also raises a question related to the company’s ability to mass-produce this model. There’s also another version tagged “Exclusive Pioneering Unit” and with a $2,999 price tag but that version is sold out as just a single unit was available. The smartphone will be offered in Black and White color options.

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If you are finding a way to learn the Chinese language without putting in much efforts to read books, vocabulary lists, flashcards or other paraphernalia, then the Lily smart speaker seems like a product for you.

Lily is a voice-controlled smart speaker that can simply and easily teach Chinese. The company describes the speaker as Alexa for Chinese learning. It claims that the fastest way to learn a language is not simply through reading books or the use of a basic app but to immerse in the language and speak as much possible — which is what the speaker intends to offer.

The team behind this smart speaker consists of Chinese language learners and machine learning engineers, who specialize in voice processing. The company says that it has invented an exciting device that can teach Chinese faster than anything on the market.

It teaches the Chinese language through four major modes — interactive conversations, real-time translation, vocabulary voice games, and a Chinese voice assistant. However, Lily’s functionality is not limited to teaching the language but also doubles as a high-quality home speaker.

Currently limited to the Chinese language, the company says that it will start offering more languages after Q2 2019, starting with French and Spanish. Those who purchase the device now will get the benefit of the upcoming languages for free just by updating the software.

Read More: Global smart speaker shipments grew 197 percent in Q3 2018, Xiaomi takes the fifth position

Lily — the first smart speaker that teaches Chinese, is currently being crowdfunded on Indigogo. The company had planned to raise $10,000 through the campaign and has already received $958,000 about 9580 percent of its initial goal. If you are interested in purchasing Lily, go the source link.

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