Morning Brief

1. Xiaomi unveils multiple new products
2. Microsoft announces BitLocker will support hardware acceleration
3. ASUS launches RT-BE90U wireless router
4. Critical security vulnerability discovered in MongoDB
5. Alibaba open-sources Tongyi Qwen-Image-Edit-2511 image editing AI model
6. Lenovo Watch GT Pro officially goes on sale
7. Rumors You Can Just Glance At

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Xiaomi unveils multiple new products

On December 25, Xiaomi unveiled a range of new products, including the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, 17 Ultra Leica Edition, Xiaomi Buds 6, and Xiaomi Watch 5.

First up is the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Xiaomi’s latest imaging flagship. In terms of design, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra series features a 2D flat display paired with a completely flat, straight-edged frame. With a thickness of 8.29 mm, it is the slimmest Ultra model in the series to date. Color options include black, white, purple, and green, and the device supports IP66, IP68, and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance.

On the imaging front, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra is equipped with a Leica 1-inch Light Fusion Master main camera and a Leica 200-megapixel optical zoom telephoto lens. The main camera uses the Light Fusion 1050L sensor, featuring a 1-inch large sensor, 3.2 μm pixels, an f/1.67 aperture, and third-generation LOFIC ultra-high dynamic range technology. Its single-pixel full well capacity has increased to 6.3× that of the previous generation, supporting high dynamic range scenarios such as Fireworks mode. The telephoto camera adopts a new-generation HPE sensor, reducing power consumption by 40% compared to its predecessor. It measures 1/1.4 inches and delivers 200 megapixels. This lens supports continuous optical zoom, covering 75 mm to 100 mm mid-telephoto full-sensor optical output, with telephoto relay options at 200 mm and 400 mm. It is also the first Leica APO optical lens on a mobile device, supporting 4K Live Photos and multiple camera movement modes.

For the display, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra features a 6.9-inch low-power “sunlight” display using M10 emissive materials and a new red primary emissive material, protected by Dragon Crystal Glass 3.0. Powering the device is Qualcomm’s fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Supreme Edition processor, paired with a 6800 mAh battery that supports 90 W wired fast charging, 50 W wireless fast charging, and the PPS universal fast charging protocol. In terms of connectivity, it supports Xiaomi Star Communication and UWB ultra-wideband interconnection technology. Pricing starts at RMB 6,999 for the 12 GB + 512 GB configuration.

Following the launch of the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, Xiaomi also introduced the 17 Ultra Leica Edition. This version continues Leica’s design language in its exterior details, including the iconic Leica red dot, a black-and-white two-tone body, finely knurled frame, and exclusive Leica engravings. The rear camera area features a Master Zoom Ring for focal length adjustment, with customizable parameters such as exposure compensation and white balance. In terms of imaging styles, the 17 Ultra Leica Edition offers one-tap Leica modes, including Leica M9 image rendering and Leica M3 + MONOPAN 50 black-and-white film aesthetics, as well as exclusive imaging options like a 3:2 full-frame aspect ratio. This edition also adds Beidou + Tiantong dual-satellite communication and a secure privacy encryption chip. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra Leica Edition starts at RMB 7,999 for the 16 GB + 512 GB version.

At the same event, Xiaomi also unveiled the Xiaomi Buds 6. Xiaomi states that these earbuds feature a bionic curved structure, weighing just 4.2 g per earbud, and are available in four color options. They are equipped with triple-magnet gold-plated drivers, co-tuned with Harman, and support end-to-end true lossless audio, spatial audio, intelligent translation recording, and real-time interpretation. Battery life can reach up to 35 hours, with a price of RMB 699.

In addition, the Xiaomi Watch 5 was announced. It features a 47 mm, 1.54-inch AMOLED display and a dual-sided synthetic sapphire glass body, powered by the Snapdragon W5 processor and a BES2800 low-power chip. It supports standalone eSIM, an on-wrist control center, EMG micro-gesture control, ECG electrocardiogram analysis, and over 150 sports modes. Battery life reaches up to 6 days in performance mode and up to 18 days in power-saving mode. Pricing starts at RMB 1,999. Source

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Microsoft announces BitLocker will support hardware acceleration

Microsoft has announced that BitLocker in Windows 11 (25H2) and Windows Server 2025 now supports CPU hardware encryption. After enabling BitLocker, the encryption workload is shifted from the software layer to a dedicated encryption engine, reducing the performance overhead typically caused by software-based encryption. According to Microsoft, the new approach can significantly improve storage read and write performance: sequential read speeds increase from 1,632 MB/s to 3,746 MB/s, write speeds rise from 1,510 MB/s to 3,530 MB/s, and CPU usage is reduced by approximately 70%.

At present, hardware-accelerated BitLocker is only available on vPro devices equipped with “Panther Lake” processors, with support expected to expand to more devices in the future. Source

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ASUS launches RT-BE90U wireless router

On December 25, ASUS introduced the RT-BE90U wireless router. The new model supports tri-band Wi-Fi 7 with a BE9400 wireless specification, including advanced Wi-Fi 7 features such as 320 MHz channel bandwidth, 4096-QAM, and MLO, and can expand home networks via AiMesh. In terms of hardware, the RT-BE90U is equipped with four 2.5 GbE RJ45 ports and six external antennas. The rear of the device also includes a USB-A (5 Gbps) port for network sharing with external devices.

On the software and feature side, the router supports Smart Home Master, allowing users to configure up to three SSIDs for device categorization and parental controls. It also integrates the enterprise-grade AiProtection security solution, providing more comprehensive protection for home networks. Source

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Critical security vulnerability discovered in MongoDB

A critical security vulnerability has recently been disclosed in the popular non-relational database MongoDB. Assigned CVE-2025-14847, the flaw affects multiple versions of MongoDB and MongoDB Server. The vulnerability stems from inconsistent handling of length parameters, which could allow unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code and gain control of affected systems.

MongoDB’s security team stated that clients could exploit a flaw in the server-side zlib implementation to trigger the return of uninitialized heap memory without authentication. The company strongly recommends upgrading to patched versions as soon as possible. MongoDB currently advises immediate updates to the following unaffected versions: MongoDB 4.4.30, 5.0.32, 6.0.27, 7.0.28, 8.0.17, and 8.2.3. If an immediate upgrade is not feasible, users can mitigate the risk by explicitly removing zlib via the networkMessageCompressors or net.compression.compressors options when starting mongod or mongos, thereby disabling server-side zlib compression. Source

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Alibaba open-sources Tongyi Qwen-Image-Edit-2511 image editing AI model

On December 25, Alibaba’s Tongyi Qwen announced the official open-sourcing of its image editing model, Qwen-Image-Edit-2511. This release focuses on strengthening consistency across multiple dimensions and improving overall generation quality.

Specifically, Qwen-Image-Edit-2511 enhances character consistency, integrates LoRA capabilities for lighting and multi-scene generation, and improves industrial design generation and geometric reasoning abilities. In addition, the new version further boosts consistency in multi-person group photo generation. While the earlier Qwen-Image-Edit-2509 had already improved single-person group photo consistency, this update addresses consistency challenges in multi-person scenarios, enabling the model to generate more coherent group photos based on two individual portraits.

Currently, Qwen-Image-Edit-2511 has been open-sourced simultaneously on the ModelScope and Hugging Face platforms. Source

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Lenovo Watch GT Pro officially goes on sale

The Lenovo Watch GT Pro smartwatch officially went on sale on December 25, highlighting up to 27 days of battery life, dual-frequency GPS for precise positioning, 50-meter professional-grade water resistance, as well as outdoor features such as more than 170 sports modes and an altitude, barometer, and compass. The current price is RMB 899.

In terms of design, the Lenovo Watch GT Pro features a 1.43-inch circular AMOLED display with a resolution of 466 × 466, protected by Corning glass, and supports a wide range of free, customizable watch faces. The watch offers 5ATM professional water resistance and includes built-in swimming algorithms.

On the functionality side, the watch is compatible with both Android and iOS systems and comes with dual-frequency GPS positioning and 24/7 health monitoring. It supports heart rate, blood oxygen, sleep, and stress tracking, as well as breathing exercises and health reminders. For sports and fitness, it offers more than 170 workout modes. The smartwatch also supports Alipay payments, a compass, Bluetooth calling, message notifications, weather information, remote camera control, phone-finding, and a voice assistant. Source

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Rumors You Can Just Glance At

According to The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics is accelerating its push toward GPU in-house development and plans to adopt a self-developed graphics IP in the Exynos 2800, which is expected to launch in 2027. The move aims to reduce reliance on AMD’s RDNA technology and increase autonomy in product iteration. Samsung also intends to extend its in-house GPU beyond smartphones to smart glasses, robotics, and automotive SoCs, while further expanding into the AI ASIC market. Source