There will be five ticket winners in all, one U.S. startup in each of following categories: hardware, education, lifestyle, finance and media.
In an interview with TechCrunch's Jon Russell earlier this year, Xiaomi's international vice president Hugo Barra explained that Xiaomi monetizes through its software services, so bringing more people into its ecosystem through low-priced hardware that covers different lifestyle needs is essential.
"Apple is forcing people to pick and choose within their product line and hope that the software features they want are included in the hardware that best fits their lifestyle.
That shouldn't be surprising, as the Silicon Valley-based company has created an unparalleled hardware culture that more resembles a lifestyle than a brand.
Apple's hit product iPod is the first piece of hardware expressly built for the "digital lifestyle" (with the Mac at the hub) theme announced by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs Steve Jobs in 2001.
About Sierra Wireless Sierra Wireless NASDAQ SWIRIR – TSX: SW) is expanding the wireless world with a comprehensive offering of hardware, software and connected services for mobile lifestyles and machine-to-machine communications.
But best of all, TechCrunch is pleased to announce that the amazing Martha Stewart – lifestyle queen and Maker guru –will serve as a hardware startups judge at Hardware Battlefield at CES.
For the compact/impact crowd, technology is not hardware and software so much as an attitude and lifestyle -- a techno-chic version of Andy Warhol's Pop.
"Xiaomi is primarily a hardware company but it's on its way to becoming a lifestyle brand," says James Roy, an associate at Shanghai-based China Market Research.
"When I think about Beats, I think about it as a lifestyle, I think of it as a media company, not just a hardware and music-focused company".
