Xiaomi is popular for its smartphone and other smart gadgets.
When it comes to the operating system utilized, it relies on Android and its proprietary platform for IoT products until now.
At the Xiaomi IoT Green Partner Conference 2023, as spotted by Gizmochina, they announced the plan to open-source the Xiaomi Vela IoT platform. And, this should result in more developers joining, using, and improving the code as necessary.
Whether it is a Chinese company or not, more open-source platforms are always welcome.
But, what is Xiaomi Vela? Why is it interesting?
Xiaomi Vela: Based on an Open Source OS
Xiaomi Vela is based on the open-source NuttX real-time operating system.
Even though the IoT platform for consumer products was not open-source initially, it is a good decision to open now.
If you are curious, NuttX is a real-time embedded operating system actively maintained under the Apache Foundation. It is a core part of Samsung's TizenRT, which can be found in smart home appliances and IoT devices without displays.
NuttX is an incredibly lightweight platform. Hence, Xiaomi Vela is inherently a platform that could work with fewer system requirements, even when compared to Linux.
Xiaomi's press release mentions more about the platform:
Xiaomi Vela provides a uniform software platform across various IoT hardware, simplifying development by abstracting underlying hardware differences and offering a unified software interface for upper-level developers. This approach unifies disparate application scenarios, streamlines development, and enhances efficiency. By making Xiaomi Vela open-source to IoT device manufacturers and developers, Xiaomi is fostering IoT device innovation, improving performance, and enabling real-time connectivity capabilities across a wide spectrum of devices.
Interestingly, Xiaomi Vela will also be at the core of HyperOS, debuting with the latest Xiaomi 14 series smartphones, replacing MIUI. It is important to note that HyperOS is not a separate open-source alternative to Android, but still based on it with modifications.
So, considering Xiaomi Vela's connections with loads of consumer products, being open-source is a piece of exciting news.
You can visit its official website (in Chinese language) to learn more about Xiaomi Vela.
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