In the office, Xiao Qi held a black bracelet made of plastic material in his hand, looking at it slowly and pondering it.
This bracelet is about the size of a watch strap, but slightly thicker. In the middle is a curved LCD screen about the size of an adult's thumb, which is shining with light.
If you were looking at it at the end of 2013, you would definitely be able to tell at a glance that this is not the smart wearable bracelet that Samsung just exposed - Gearfit?
However, in this generation, Xiao Qi created Gearfit more than three years in advance and improved it to form a brand new smart bracelet.
The people in the laboratory promised in June that they should be able to create the fairy bracelet by the end of July, but it is now halfway through November that they have barely finished the engineering samples.
The reason is naturally because they are stuck on several important technical problems.
The first one is the curved LCD screen required by the smart bracelet.
They didn't realize it at first, and Xiao Qi didn't deliberately remind them. They used a transparent curved plastic layer on the surface and an LCD screen on the inside, but it was completely different. Not only was it not lightweight,
Moreover, it is very cumbersome to operate and does not feel smart at all.
So they tried to change the materials. After searching around, they found that in Xiao Qi's design, the screen and the touch screen were actually integrated. That's when they remembered that there was something about OLE folding screens and hyperboloids in the laboratory.
Research on screens has already been carried out on a large scale.
Therefore, they prepared to use curved LCD screens, folding screens and curved screens. The laboratory staff were happy to let the fairy smart bracelet be their test product, and actively cooperated. After two months, they finally
Made an LCD screen that barely passes the test.
The LCD screen is ready, and the touch screen is made of soft adhesive material, so it naturally fits together easily.
The second difficulty lies in the system design of the smart bracelet and the adjustment of page look and feel, resolution, and sensitivity.
It seems very simple, but when they used an ordinary 2-inch LCD screen to test it, they discovered that working on such a small screen not only tested the size of the fingers, but also tested the development settings of the system.
In order to satisfy users in Asia, Europe and the United States, they spent a lot of effort and found many departments to cooperate. Finally, they were able to make great progress in terms of touch sensitivity, page crispness, and intelligent sensing.
progress.
The third question is the matching of these functions with the curved LCD screen.
There is a big difference between a flat LCD screen and a curved LCD screen in terms of touch feel, strength and accuracy.
If it is used by ordinary people on smart bracelets, any discomfort will affect their experience. This is a very fatal shortcoming for a product.
So the modulation and testing of this curved LCD screen alone took another month.
In the end, we tried to make hundreds of products and gave them to people in the company for trial, feedback, and improvement... We waited for a set of procedures to be completed, and it was only today that they dared to show them to Xiao Qi.
As for the time limit that they had promised before, these guys never dared to mention it again.
Samsung's Gearfit cannot be regarded as a top-notch smart wearable device, but in Xiao Qi's opinion, just because of this curved LCD screen, it is enough to not be outdated within five years, just like Apple mobile phones have always been
The touch screen has been prosperous for ten or eight years.
It is said that Samsung will launch a double-curved or single-curved mobile phone in 2014. Because the size is getting larger, it will be more difficult to make, but correspondingly, the sensation it will cause will become greater.
Looking at the curved LCD screen in his hand, Xiao Qi could imagine that after the advent of curved LCD mobile phones, Samsung should be able to compete head-on with Apple.
But this life is different. Not only was the smart wearable device first invented by Fairy Company, but also the curved LCD mobile phone was invented by Fairy Company. Even if Samsung had such a plan, it would only fall behind Fairy Company.
Putting aside his thoughts, Xiao Qi pressed the power button on the side. The boot pattern was still the familiar cartoon fairy dragon.
Similar to other products of Fairy Company, except for a power button, this smart bracelet relies on touch to select and confirm functions, and even the volume buttons are controlled on the LCD panel.
The Fairy Bracelet does not have too many functions. Now it includes the detection of running steps, calories burned, heart rate detection, weather and time display, alarm clock and schedule reminder.
Compared with the genuine GearFit, there are fewer phone calls and text messages received. This is also Xiao Qi's deliberate decision. Otherwise, if it is so perfect from the beginning, how can it be upgraded in the future?
Even so, this fairy bracelet made according to Xiao Qi is exquisite enough.
Xiao Qi tried out various function options. With the support of the weakened version of the fairy system, the function selection and demonstration were smooth and very convenient. The vertical page was also more adaptable.
What I am slightly uncomfortable with is that the 2-inch curved LCD screen is too small. Compared with the 5-inch large screen of today's smartphones, it is not as easy to press.
"According to our tests, this fairy bracelet is very easy to use. Within a week of trial, everyone felt that it facilitated their lives and was unique in helping to exercise." Sun Manxue said with a smile,
“Many girls even said that after having it, they can basically put down their mobile phones and go for a run and exercise for a while!”
"What's the shortcoming?" Xiao Qi asked.
"Because it is an LCD panel, it is inevitable that it cannot get wet. It would be better if it could be made waterproof," Sun Manxue said.
"It's not difficult to get a waterproof level, but let's do this for now and wait until the second generation is upgraded." Xiao Qi mused, "Your laboratory should also pay close attention to the waterproof research and development of the next generation Dreampad and Dreamstars.
, it will have to be released in 2012 at the latest.”
"I know that experts hired from Germany are already doing research and development, and we will fully support them with resources."
Nodding, Xiao Qi put down the fairy bracelet and said, "How much does it cost?"
"The one made in the laboratory is more than 900 pieces. If it is mass production, it should be controlled at around 600." Dai Xian said, "The main reason is that the configuration is relatively high, with 512m of ram and 2g of memory. In addition, the yield is low.
It is 95% of the curved 2-inch LCD screen, so the cost cannot be controlled for the time being. At this price, the touch screen of Chenhong Optoelectronics in Baodao is better, but the quotation of Shenghua Technology is actually at a loss, and now it is large
Large-scale mass production is still difficult, and it is said that the yield rate of the latest batch is only 88%."
"The laboratory gave them the design drawings and requirements two months ago, and they have been experimenting, but the results are not very good." Sun Manxue added, "But their spirit of learning and scientific research is very commendable. This
According to reports from the engineers we sent over a period of time, several of their deputy general managers in charge of technology have taken turns living in the factory and are meeting to solve problems at any time."
"They have seen the future of new high-end curved LCD screens. They know that if this is done well, there will be LCD orders for curved mobile phones in the future. Are they still not willing to work hard?" Xiao Qi said with a smile.
The reason for the effort.
Xiao Qi also strongly agreed with this.
Interest can drive people to progress, and greed can also drive technological innovation.
If you want people to put in hard work for no reason, you can do it once or twice. If you keep doing this, even an idiot will not persist.
The cost of the fairy bracelet is much more expensive than the Xiaomi bracelet that was said to cost less than 100 yuan in the previous life. The main reason is that the functions and grades are different.
The Xiaomi bracelet is more of a sensor. It needs the screen of the Xiaomi phone to display various functional patterns, such as the number of running steps, calories burned, etc. It is completely invisible to hold the bracelet without a screen alone.
To something.
"So, when will Shenghua Technology prepare to supply us?" Xiao Qi asked.
"They promise to provide 1 million screens by the end of the year." Dai Xian replied, "Starting next year, this can be increased to 500,000 screens per month."
Xiao Qi nodded, this amount was enough.
Smart bracelets are not very practical, but their portability and trendy feel are very attractive.
Now the cost is more than 600, so adding marketing costs and profits, etc., you have to sell at least 1,000 to be profitable, and I never like low profits, so I have to sell at least 1,288 in China, and 188 abroad.
US dollars.
The average sales volume of 500,000 yuan a month is quite a lot.
It is really very popular, so it will be possible to expand production and give some orders to other LCD panel manufacturers.
In the product series of Fairy Company, not all products have to be as profitable as mobile phones and tablets. Many products can also build a smart ecosystem around the Fairy system, allowing the Fairy system to be integrated into people's smart lives.
middle.
As long as you master these users, it is your greatest wealth, and it is much more cost-effective than the best-selling of a single product.
When every smart product they use is a product of Fairy Company, can they not continue to choose to own Fairy Company products in their future lives?
This is the user stickiness that businessmen pursue!
(Brothers, please subscribe more!) (To be continued.)