When Ye Qiu got this heavy, square prototype in the laboratory of Leaf Technology in San Francisco, his first feeling was, Oh, Maiga

This is something that has no beauty at all. Although Andy Rubin repeatedly told Ye Qiu that this is just a prototype. In order to facilitate experiments and research, this prototype looks a bit outrageous, and is surrounded by various interfaces, such as PH interfaces, Ethernet interfaces, etc.

However, although big, there should be something. Sometimes designers always do this, hoping to stuff everything they think is useful and good into their designs, which makes the entire design look too bloated and even reaches an unbearable level of obesity.

"For Zeus, it must first be a mobile phone, a mobile phone that everyone finds easy to use when using. It needs to have a bright appearance design, excellent screen display effect, a smooth and stable operating system. The most important thing is that it can make people get started and get used to its user experience at once."

With Ye Qiu's words, everyone in the laboratory, including Andy Rubin and others, was obviously embarrassed.

Many things seem insignificant to Ye Qiu, but in their opinion, they seem to be a huge problem, and this is the difference.

Ye Qiu obviously noticed their suspicion, so he introduced it item by item, such as the mobile phone interface and the Ethernet interface are completely useless and can be given up. He even proposed that all interfaces, such as the PH interface and the charging interface should be integrated together, and then throw away those useless things, which can save a lot of space.

The same goes for those applications. When he sees the dense applications inside, he feels a headache because they are like moving a computer in. But in fact, there are many functions that are useful on the computer, which can be said to be completely useless on the mobile phone.

In fact, it is not unfamiliar with smartphones, and not just Andy Rubin, who once made Internet phones, but almost all designers present are familiar with them, because there are not without smartphones now, such as Nokia's Symbian, such as TPUU0 launched by pLAN last year, and BlackBerry.

However, they had some misunderstandings about Ye Qiu's idea, thinking that Ye Qiu wanted to develop a mobile device similar to a tablet computer, but they didn't know that Ye Qiu wanted a mobile phone, and then talked about it after the phone came out.

After simplifying a lot of functions, what Ye Qiu left behind is some of the simplest and most practical functions, such as phone and address book, email, browser, NP3 text messages, calendar, pictures, cameras, maps, weather, etc. The rest are mobile applications of several websites launched by Ye Zi Technology, such as Pk and Utu.

Ye Qiu also explained that he decided that the phone would use full touch control but left a physical Hm key alone.

"Our computer case has two buttons, power supply and restart. These are two buttons with the highest permissions. By the same token, the mobile phone also needs such high permissions. Needless to say, the power supply needs a restart, but we do not recommend that users directly restart when encountering problems, such as lag or crashing, so we need the Hm key and go home."

"We set such a button, which is actually a continuation of life. You know that we often encounter many problems in life. For example, when you go to the bathroom, press it gently on the toilet, it will flush it automatically. I believe that when you press that, you will definitely feel a very special feeling in your heart, right?"

This metaphor seems a bit vulgar, but it is very close to life. Many people present thought about it carefully and found that this seems to be true, but they have not noticed such details in life on weekdays.

"The meaning of setting the Hm key is actually to tell our users that when you encounter trouble, when your phone becomes messy, and when your mind is full of thought, press it, and it will help you solve everything, and then, when you go home, the world returns to purity."

After hearing this, Andy Rubin couldn't help but nodded repeatedly. He had to find that this was indeed a very genius idea. To a certain extent, it was a metaphor and echo of human psychology in a mechanical way, and resonated with users psychologically.

In fact, this is also a hint, use it with confidence and boldness. If there is a problem, use it to solve everything.

"So, why do you have to use physical buttons instead of touch?" Ye Qiu continued to analyze that these are his experiences in using a mobile phone in his previous life. And this time, what he decided to adopt is not the Hm key, menu key and return key used by Android, but only one Hm key, which is the same as In, and the others are embedded in the system.

At the same time, Yezi Technology has also begun to apply for patents for related designs. This time, it is not only In's design patent application, but even some designs from Samsung and Android have been applied for, just in case.

"The use of physical keys and touch keys is actually similar in function, but in actual use, the user feels completely different, because your screen is touched, and your fingers will inevitably exceed the screen. If the keys are also touched, it is easy to cause misoperation when the fingers exceed the screen."

Ye Qiu remembered that he used an Android phone to play games in his previous life, such as cutting fruits or playing some games with relatively large movements, which often caused misoperation and accidentally pressed the touch function key. Although this is nothing, when you are very nervous and suddenly appear like this, you will want to go crazy.

"Of course, you can set the buttons to be sunken or raised like physical buttons, but I believe Dr. Westerman will fight you to the death." Ye Qiu pointed to Westerman in the touch group, who shrugged.

"For the time being, touch technology is not sensitive in depression and bulge," Westman said.

Ye Qiu talked to him about this, and had personally experienced it in his previous life, that is Ford.

Ford once spent a huge amount of money to study a set of on-board control systems. They completely abandoned traditional buttons and knobs on the main control board of the car and instead used touch buttons on a large scale. But even in the year, their on-board system was still criticized by users because the depressions and bulges made the touch buttons very insensitive.

It can be imagined that Ford was working with many large companies such as Sony at that time. When touch controls were already flooding in 2018, sags and bulges could not achieve the sensitivity of physical buttons, so it is impossible to achieve it now. We can only say that we regard this struggle as a direction of research and development.

"There is another point. We attach importance to touch technology, but don't be superstitious about touch technology. Any technology will have certain defects, including touch. So, when the program stutters during the use of the mobile phone, we often find that touch also loses its function. At this time, we need a button that can completely solve these problems, that is, go home."

Because everyone present has used prototypes, lag and crashes are common, so when Ye Qiu mentioned this, everyone couldn't help but resonate with each other.

"I can also say a lot about the benefits of using physical keys on the Hm key. For example, using a concave and raised physical key design, we don't need to look at it with our eyes, we can feel it with our hands, and the physical keys will give you a kind of operation feedback to let you know that I'm working."

"Maybe, you will say again. Since it is so important, why just set one?" I believe that Ye Qiu's question was also a question for many people present, because Ye Qiu obviously understood this from their eyes.

"I have used your prototype, and I find that you have always made a very important thing wrong, that is, your phone."

"In your prototype, I noticed that you have made a very creative development, and you can even be said to be a genius." Ye Qiu smiled and praised these people, because he really admired it very much, even he himself did not expect this at the beginning.

That is, they set up gravity sensing in their phones, and allow the phone to run smoothly in any direction, and then use gravity sensing to automatically adjust the direction of the screen. This is a very creative function in tablets in the future, but in mobile phones, the effect is very small.

"Mobile phone screen is usually smaller, 5 inches, and it will develop slowly in the future, and may reach 4 inches, followed by 5 inches, but it will definitely not be too large. The reason is very simple. There is another very important feature of a mobile phone, which is that it is easy to carry and can be taken away by putting it in your pocket.

"Rectangular mobile phone screens are generally vertical or horizontal. I believe many people choose to lock vertical and prohibit rotation. So as long as we guide the design, I don't believe you will want to try to play with your phone upside down, unless you deliberately cause trouble for me.

Everyone present burst into laughter and had to admit that it was true, because the screen was small.

"I once told Andy Rubin that developing mobile phones is just the first step. Next we will develop a brand new electronic product, tablet computer. Note that it is a computer, not a mobile phone. It is very portable, but it has many computer functions and is square. By then, your innovation will be of great use, and many things you have developed in prototypes can be realized in tablet computers."

All the companies are the company's R&D executives, all of them are high-level figures, and they have signed contracts, so Ye Qiu is not worried that they will change jobs or leak them out. On the contrary, he feels it is necessary that such core figures know the company's business direction and let them see hope, which will make them more motivated.

"Back to the topic, because most of them are vertically arranged, and a small part may be horizontally arranged due to factors such as games. Then the mobile phone's Hm keys do not need to be too many, one is enough."

As Ye Qiu finished speaking, Andy Rubin was the first to stand up and applaud, followed by several senior executives from the R&D department. It was obvious that they were all convinced by Ye Qiu's words.

The company's research and development has always seemed to be moving forward in accordance with Ye Qiu's ideas and the direction provided by him, which made many experts with strong innovation capabilities feel uncomfortable and even felt suppressed. However, when they encountered huge difficulties and even had a pause in their design, Ye Qiu easily helped them solve the problem and developed a new idea, which made them very impressed.

In addition, Ye Qiu also told them some of their initial ideas about tablets, but this tempting idea will not be carried out until the mobile phone is launched. But I believe that with the foundation and experience of developing mobile phones, tablets will be much faster. After all, many things are ready-made.

At the same time, Ye Qiu was also happy that the company's PK users had exceeded 1 million. After all, this was equivalent to opening a good situation for the company. Next, Utu, Twitter and other services are also being improved.

Yezi Technology can be said to have gradually established its fame and status through PK. Currently, the users have exceeded one million, most of which are from more than 0 universities in the United States. More importantly, the ratio of men and women accounts for half. This is very important and is also the reason why the website continues to attract more young people, even adult users, to join.

According to Eliza's ideas and plans, after the PK operation stabilizes, the company will launch a complete Utu video sharing website, followed by Twitter, and will also launch several p-books of games one after another, which will create momentum for the next launch of mobile phones.

Ye Qiu agrees with this plan very much, and many Chinese versions of software and websites will also be launched, and these are all left to Chen Zhong in China to take charge. In addition, Android stores are also actively preparing. Once the mobile phone is announced, the Android store will be open to third parties to attract more mobile phone software developers to enter. When the mobile phone is launched, users can directly download the application from above.

But in the final analysis, it is still a mobile phone. If Yezi Technology wants to become a hit, mobile phones are very important, so Ye Qiu also issued a dead order to Andy Rubin. Time is good, but from software to hardware, mobile phones must be the best, give users a first-class user experience and directly capture users.

The future smartphone market is a bloody battlefield. If you cannot seize the commanding heights as soon as possible, even if you become a pioneer, you will be just cannon fodder for later generations.

Sometimes Ye Qiu has to sigh that women really take advantage, especially when this woman is beautiful and has very clever methods, she can really play with men in applause.

In just half a year, Eliza quickly helped Yezi Technology open up the situation in Silicon Valley and the United States. Not only was it launched PkR, but it also obtained a cooperation agreement from ATmnamnTR, the largest telecom operator in the United States. Unlike the first-generation In mobile phones, Zeus supported it from the beginning.

According to the agreement, the mobile phones produced by Yezi Technology need to be bundled with the ATmnamnTR network, but 10% of the sales during the contract period must be handed over to ATmnamnT, and ATmnamnT does not need to pay a price. That is, during the contract period, ATmnamnT will pay Yezi Technology a return of US$10 per month to every Zeus mobile phone user.

This agreement seems to be at a loss, but in fact, the losses are temporary, but the benefits are long-term. Ye Qiu thinks Apple's strategy in his previous life is worth learning from, that is, after making a name for himself, he will sweep the operators out, completely breaking the previous model of mobile phone developers obeying operators, and in turn, it will focus on mobile phone developers.

To put it simply, Yezi Technology can sell mobile phones to different telecom operators.

ATmnamnT seems to be a compromise on the surface, but in fact they are not at a disadvantage because they can get huge returns from the high data traffic generated by smartphones, which is something they do not have now, and they make a compromise after the core executives personally tried the prototype.

Needless to mention the full touch design and smartphone, the appearance design is also awesome, and Eliza promised that the thickness of the phone would be reduced to less than millimeters. This is the confidence given by Andy Rubin, who promised to be thinner than millimeters.

Motorola, which has been very popular recently, adopts a folding design, with an average configuration and no good innovation, but its thickness is close to 14 mm, which is very popular among mobile phone users. If it can really achieve millimeters, coupled with intelligent and full-touch design, as well as a corresponding series of revolutionary innovations, there is no doubt that this mobile phone will be popular and will be popular.

In the United States, except for accompanying his wife around, Ye Qiu almost always stayed in the company and discussed and researched with Andy Rubin and others. Although he was not a technical expert, he was more experienced than his rich experience. Sometimes, he could solve problems that they had been thinking hard for a long time without solving.

In addition, Ye Qiu also set up a research and development team to try a new concept, that is, IPTTT in his previous life

If I post a message on Tencent Weibo, it will be automatically shared on my Renren.

If the weather exceeds 30 degrees, I will automatically send a text message to remind me.

If so, this is IPTTT

This concept is very dazzling and powerful. Ye Qiu was also interested in learning about it in his previous life. He even felt that this service can be all-encompassing, especially when the TV in your home is smarter, the mobile phone is smarter, and all appliances and homes are smarter, he will be your most powerful IoT manager, and as long as you set it up in advance, he will run silently.

However, one of the important reasons why IPTTT in my previous life has not improved much is that it is a backend service. After the setup is completed, it rarely needs to be maintained and the number of visits is small, but the service load is very large, which is a very typical negative asset and no company is willing to invest in it.

But this service is a very, very good project for Yezi Technology. At least in Yeqiu's previous life, Apple ud had this kind of function, and this is also a direction for Yezi Technology to develop in the future, that is, to promote their Android system as much as possible, so that it can be fully included and become synonymous in the era of intelligence.

Some of Ye Zi Technology's innovation experts and their friends were shocked by the concept proposed by Ye Qiu. This is indeed a super cool idea. It can be used not only between different websites and service applications on the Internet, but also within the mobile phone system.

For a time, a large group of software engineers in the company asked to join, and even Andy Rubin himself announced that he would lead the group. Ye Qiu finally decided that Andy Rubin would be responsible for the R&D team without delaying the development of mobile phones and other projects.

Eliza was very reluctant and thought that this must be a big money. Fortunately, Ye Qiu and Andy Rubin submitted a small budget later. It only started with 1 million US dollars, which was acceptable, so the Chancellor of the Exchequer signed and approved it.
Chapter completed!