Reinventing the Millennium

The Google team negotiated for a long time in Yike's Silicon Valley R\u0026D center, which took longer than planned.

In the evening, six people including Larry and Schmidt said goodbye and left. Rubin, the father of Android, who was brought here today, stood in Yike's team and waved goodbye. He had been deeply attracted by the three prototypes.

Founder Larry, CEO Schmidt, and industrial design director Allen rode in the same car and discussed Yike's mobile phone design on the way back.

Schmidt originally wanted to take a prototype back to play with, but Fang Zhuo refused on the grounds that it would be easy to leak secrets.

He sat in the car, recalling the touch in the conference room, and said to Allen, "Where are our mobile phones?"

I came to Yike today to make trouble with him, but he didn't take it out at all.

Allen took out a mobile phone designed by Google from his pocket. It is the mainstream design on the market today. It has a screen on the top and a full keyboard on the bottom. However, the screen is replaced by a capacitive screen.

Schmidt took the phone, played with it for a few seconds and then handed it back with a bit of disgust: "Yike's phone feels slippery. Why is your phone so ugly and rough?"

Allen was full of complaints, saying that the mobile phone was "ours" before, but now it becomes "yours". The final design plan of this mobile phone was also approved by your senior management!

He silently took out the final design from another pocket. This one was very thick and had a two-layer slide design. The advantage was that it maximized the capacitive screen while retaining the keyboard.

This is today’s big killer!

I originally planned to take out the first model first, and then compare it with this one to shock Yike!

Unexpectedly, Mr. Fang thought so too, but he put ten mainstream mobile phones on the market on the table and compared them with three mobile phones designed by Yike. There was no doubt that he defeated Google's psychological defense!

The big killer turned out to be a dud, and Allen couldn't express his pain.

Schmidt did not continue to criticize. He discussed with Larry: "Larry, Yike's mobile phones are good-looking, but do you think consumers can accept the touch-screen keyboard? Without a physical keyboard, I always feel that something is missing. "

Larry first talked about the visual experience: "If I buy a mobile phone, the first one in this pile of products must be Yike's mobile phone. A full-screen mobile phone is too conspicuous among a bunch of pitiful small-screen competing products. !”

When he said this, he suddenly turned around and asked Allen: "Lab products will always lead the market. Allen, do you think it is possible for a mobile phone like Yike to actually be launched?"

Allen fairly commented: "I'm afraid it will take a long time for the screen of No. 3 phone to be released. Considering that Yike mobile phone will take at least more than a year to be discussed in the market, even if No. 2 phone can be commercialized by then, the cost will be It is also very likely that it will not be accepted by consumers. The cost of the 4-inch model No. 1 will still be relatively high, but the distance from commercial use can be discussed."

He thought for a while and then said: "The design of Yike's mobile phone is amazing, but today's phone is only a semi-finished product except for the system. The heat of the battery, the excellent signal, and the adaptation of the hardware and the system are all a test for Yike. Co’s team.”

Schmidt nodded slightly, and was indeed impressed by the heat he felt on his phone in about ten minutes.

"So, this is a flower stand, right?" he asked.

"The progress of your system development is so slow. It is difficult for me not to give a high evaluation to Yike for coming up with such a design in such a short time." Allen was silent for a while and said sincerely, "It, well, they are really very beautiful."

Larry also talked about a detail at this time: "I tried the touch screen keyboard keys when the No. 2 phone was just turned on and there was no lag. It was unexpectedly smooth. It was obvious that Yike was not just immersed in design, but in Adapt an immature system as maturely as possible.”

This is actually what impressed Schmidt, the CEO.

Extremely short time, beautiful design, research on the Android system, and enthusiasm for the mobile phone market are all the advantages that Yike has shown.

In addition, Mr. Fang is also very powerful.

Google needs an entry point into the mobile Internet era, and Mr. Fang knows exactly which competitors Google is concerned about.

What if we push such a company and such people to Microsoft?

Who knows whether Mr. Fang can convince Microsoft to make an operating system based on Linux?

Silicon Valley has never been short of geniuses, nor of stories of geniuses changing company decisions.

Schmidt repeatedly weighed, does Google really need the voting rights in Yike's hands?

Yike is not using this voting power to restrict anything. On the contrary, it needs its own resources and cooperation, and Google already has great initiative.

Rather than taking the risk of letting competitors add another outstanding boost, it is better to continue the cooperation where 1+1 is greater than 2.

The CEO of Google recalled the designs of prototypes 1, 2, and 3 and sighed: "Is Yike's design a kind of radical beauty?"

Founder Larry replied: "No matter what beauty is, since we all have similar feelings, it is good. What we have to do now is to improve the system and create a benchmark for Android smartphones and even smartphones."

Allen, Google's mobile phone industrial design director, nodded with deep understanding.

Then he began to worry about his job.

It seems that this department of Google is likely to be marginalized.

…

Fang Zhuo and others returned to the conference room after seeing off the Google team.

Soon, the long-awaited Qualcomm trio walked in. This was a visiting group led by Vice President Anderson.

When Anderson walked into the conference room, he saw the table that had not yet been cleared away. The mainstream mobile phone products on the market were scattered on it, but three beautiful screens were embedded in it like pearls.

"Oh, my friend!"

Although Anderson waited a long time, he did not feel slighted and knew that Yi Ke was in a crucial meeting with Google.

At this moment, he saw Yike's unique products at a glance, and with quick eyes and hands, he got the most beautiful pearl, and let out a textbook sigh.

Seeing this, Fang Zhuo smiled slightly, reached for Unit 2, and played with its edges and corners.

All three mobile phones have fatal problems.

The heat dissipation of the battery is poor, the signal performance is very poor, and it does not support the simultaneous use of multiple functions. It can only be used for no more than twenty minutes before shutting down...

Or, it can’t be called a prototype, just three small toys.

Fang Zhuo put down the No. 2 phone in his hand, and suddenly thought about it, he had never built a mobile phone before, and maybe other people's prototypes were like this.

In just three minutes, Anderson's No. 3 phone shut down.

He was a little shocked and showed the blacked-out screen to Mr. Fang and asked, "Why is it turned off?"

"The battery is out. I've been talking to Google for too long." Fang Zhuo's expression remained unchanged.

Anderson nodded and said sincerely: "A mobile phone with a screen like this looks really good."

He glanced at the Nokia, Samsung, Sony and other mobile phones on the table and was convinced of this again.

"Google came here today with Larry and Schmidt and wanted to acquire the 34% stake in the Android company that I held from Yike and Sony, but they changed their minds after seeing our prototype. Soon, Yike will and Google is negotiating a package of cooperation agreements." Fang Zhuo briefly summarized the negotiations with Google. There is actually a lot that needs to be discussed on how to cooperate in the future.

Anderson was stunned for a moment, savoring some twists and turns in these words. He looked at Mr. Fang carefully and felt that he was a little tired, and sighed: "It's not easy."

Fang Zhuo took the newly brewed coffee from his secretary and said with a smile: "Who says it's not the case? Google and I have a heart-to-heart exchange, and Google and I are using our brains."

He took a sip of coffee, savored the bitterness, and said, "But it's okay, I'm used to it."

Anderson was filled with respect and used his brain.

Fang Zhuo drank half a cup of coffee, put down the cup, refreshed, and smiled slightly: "The chips in these three prototypes are all OMAP2420 customized from TI. The R\u0026D center said that the effect is pretty good. We and Schmidt They chatted a lot, and they also recognized Deyi’s quality and reputation.”

TI has a 69% market share in mobile application processors, while Qualcomm has 17%.

The chip OMAP2420 in the prototype is used in the flagship N93 released by Nokia in April this year. Although it is not TI's most high-end processor, it is already the highest frequency and most powerful CPU in smartphones that have been launched. .

Anderson is naturally familiar with the models of his competitors' chips. Now that he heard Mr. Fang mention it, he suddenly changed his mind. The ice core broke through the risk of trial production of the 90nm process. Fang would never go to Texas Instruments with the ice core. Are you looking for cooperation in various aspects?

TI's experience and cooperation in chip foundry is what makes it proficient. The founders of Taiji are all from TI.

He touched the screen of phone No. 3 in his hand and nodded slightly: "No wonder it felt a little stuck just now. It turned out to be 2420."

Fang Zhuo was stunned and laughed.

OMAP2420 is actually very powerful. In addition to the 330MHZ of the ARM1136 architecture, it also adds a hardware video codec unit (IVA-IVA2) and independence (PowerVR MBX) to the mobile phone master control for the first time, and increases wireless network support to 3.5G ( HSPA).

What this brings is great progress in the screen/color number, camera specifications, multimedia playback and other capabilities of mobile phones.

Simply put, mobile phones have become smarter.

Anderson knew that he had gone too far, but he still said calmly: "Mr. Fang, I know that TI must have mentioned Nokia when talking about this chip with you, but TI can provide you with the same chips as Nokia." A mobile solution?”

Seeing that Mr. Fang did not answer, he continued: "But we at Qualcomm are different."

"As a newly developed smartphone system, the Android system can ultimately give the phone a good presentation if it can get software and hardware adaptation from chip manufacturers."

"It's useless to simply pile up hardware. Moreover, Mr. Fang, we still have room for discussion on the packaging solution of chips and basebands. Even if you and TI cooperate on chips, we are the best in the field of basebands." Strong."

"Qualcomm is willing to work with Yiko for the successful application of the Android system. Google and Yiko definitely want to have an excellent mobile phone with Android system."

"For TI, it is enough that it has its staunch ally Nokia, but for us at Qualcomm, there is an urgent need to develop new partners like Android."

At this point, Anderson added: "What's more, in addition to mobile phone chips, there are many areas where we can cooperate with Mr. Fang."

After listening to the long speech of Qualcomm's vice president, Fang Zhuo couldn't help laughing: "I didn't say anything, it's just that TI's chip is indeed very mature."

“Perhaps TI is half a step ahead in the industry in terms of the performance of a single chip, but in terms of the solutions presented in mobile phone products and our advantages in 3G patents, I think Qualcomm is the best collaborator." Anderson still expressed his views.

Fang Zhuo actually has this tendency.

The main reason is that after coming to Silicon Valley, I can more intuitively feel the attitudes of different manufacturers.

Qualcomm was led by Baba's vice president. He also had someone from Deyi, but he was still looking for a suitable itinerary.

What Yike needs is not just a set of chips, but also cooperation with them. Otherwise, the mobile phone project may be delayed.

However, as Anderson said, Deyi has Nokia.

From TI's standpoint, would it be enthusiastic about helping a small customer compete fiercely with its big customers on smart systems?

This probably requires a question mark.

"Anderson, today I mainly want to hear your opinion on our mobile phone design. If you approve our design..." Fang Zhuo paused, "Perhaps Qualcomm can have a team to connect with Yike to see what you have to say. What effect can the solution provide on mobile phones?"

Anderson nodded steadily. Mr. Fang wanted to see the performance of the prototype with Qualcomm chips.

"Yike will conduct a series of negotiations with Google. Regardless of any previous differences, they will still focus on building mobile phones." Fang Zhuo gave a hint, "By then, if Qualcomm really shows competitiveness, Then let’s talk about cooperation and patent licensing.”

This is the meat Fang Zhuo wants to get out of Qualcomm's hands.

Anderson showed no sign of rejection and nodded in approval of the arrangement.

He continued to chat about the performance of his competitor Texas Instruments, and in his hand was carefully comparing the designs of the three prototypes of Yike. Although they were not turned on, he could clearly discuss the expressiveness of today's screens.

It wasn't until nightfall that Qualcomm's Anderson trio evacuated from the Yike R\u0026D Center.

Fang Zhuo felt that the exchange with Anderson was quite fruitful, and the other party even left an expected chipset solution.

The R\u0026D center is off work.

Fang Zhuo made an appointment with technical director Xu Keden and design director Edward to have dinner together and wanted to discuss the options of Yike mobile phones.

Before leaving, he took the plan left by Qualcomm with him.

There are now three mainstream manufacturers on the market, TI, Qualcomm, and Intel. But if Intel plans to withdraw from this field, it will become a choice between TI and Qualcomm.

However, Fang Zhuo has contacted Morningstar Semiconductor, which has a close relationship, and plans to let them take a look at the solutions Qualcomm can provide to see if they can achieve a similar design.

Even if it doesn't work now, is it possible to have a lower version that can be used as a choice for subsequent mobile phones?

Fang Zhuo has placed a lot of expectations on Morningstar Semiconductor's IC design in the mobile phone field, hoping that this company headquartered in Baodao can bring more surprises.