The world is in trouble

Chapter 286 Quantum Phone, A Decisive Strike!
The biggest news in the tech world in 2008 was Microsoft's acquisition of Yahoo.

Around February, Microsoft formally proposed to Yahoo's board of directors to acquire Yahoo for $31 per share in cash and stock, a deal valued at $446 billion, in order to make up for Microsoft's shortcomings in the internet industry.

Yahoo! Group felt the price was too low, but also worried that being acquired might mean losing its autonomy.

Therefore, the two sides have not been able to reach an agreement.

Microsoft had been operating smoothly in the gaming sector until the emergence of another major player, Steve Jobs, which changed the landscape of the two major platforms. So, having failed to reach an agreement with Yahoo!, they now have to begin new negotiations with the Lightning Entertainment group.

Just two days later, Microsoft requested access from Facebook.

Upon receiving the news, Facebook's president's office immediately reported it to Wu Lingxi.

Then, the offices of both sides began to contact each other, inquiring about the level of the visit and who would be coming.

Is it Shane King, head of Microsoft Game Studios, or Robbie Bach, who is in charge of Xbox, or someone at an even higher level?

Or it could be Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft stated that if Lin Xiao is willing to attend the meeting, then Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would be very happy to visit him.

Lin Xiao expressed his willingness.

Just one week later, a Microsoft delegation officially flew from Washington to California to visit Facebook.

CEO Steve Ballmer, Vice President Robbie Bach, and Shane King, head of the game studio, were all present.

However, the entire itinerary was not made public.

Unlike the humiliation Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi suffered when they visited Microsoft, Facebook treated Steve and his party with great courtesy.

Then, the two sides held preliminary discussions.

For Microsoft, the most pressing issue is its insufficient presence in the internet industry, which is why it wanted to spend tens of billions of dollars to acquire Yahoo.

Its main focus is on search and internet advertising.

Facebook's advertising business overseas is experiencing explosive growth and is a highly desirable asset for Microsoft.

"Mr. Lin, are you interested in selling any shares in Er Gou Studio, as well as the IPs it owns?" Vice President Robbie Bach asked.

For many companies, Microsoft is both an angel and a devil.

Because it is often not satisfied with just a small share; it usually acquires the entire company or a majority stake.

This pattern holds true from Skype to Aquantive, then to GitHub, and finally to Bethesda and Activision Blizzard.

It's a very arrogant and domineering company.

How is this possible?

For Lin Xiao, Er Gou Studio was not just about making money, but more importantly, it was a strategic move.

This is Lin Xiao's only game studio currently operating globally.

“What about Facebook’s shares?” Steve asked.

Compared to Yahoo's tens of billions of dollars, Facebook's price is extremely cheap.

Lin Xiao shook his head again. If it was just a small stake, like a regular investor, Lin Xiao would be willing.

But Microsoft's appetite is very large.

Steve Ballmer asked, "Lin, what can you offer Microsoft?"

Lin Xiao thought for a moment: "The shares in Quantum Technology shall not exceed 15%!"

Normally, it should be allowed to invest in Xsoft, a subsidiary of X Research Institute that specializes in mobile operating systems.

But it was later discovered that this was meaningless.

Because Microsoft is focused on developing its own mobile operating system, it still holds a dominant position.

Even if it invests in XSOFT, it will not provide any technical support, let alone help with promotion.

Investing in quantum technology would be beneficial for brand building and global promotion.

Of course... in fact, it doesn't mean much.

However, they share a common enemy, Google, so there is a basis for an alliance.

Therefore, Lin Xiao has already shown great sincerity and believes that the offer he has made is very generous.

Steve shrugged, indicating no interest and even thinking Lin Xiao was being delusional.

They won't rashly enter the hardware field; the Xbox 360 is Microsoft's most important hardware platform.

It was only when Microsoft's mobile operating system suffered a major setback that he spent a huge sum to acquire Nokia completely. The core reason was not that they wanted to make money by selling mobile phones, but that they wanted to preserve their strategic position in the mobile operating system market.

There is very little room for cooperation between the two sides.

"Lin, how about this? We'll get Microsoft China to sell Renren.com to you for only $300 million." Steve: "In exchange, the Fallout series, the Witcher series, and all games from the future Two Dogs Studio, and even CDPR, will be released on the Xbox platform first."

Now it was Lin Xiao's turn to chuckle.

What use is Renren.com to me?
Liao Feng wanted to sell it to me at a much lower price.

“Because it has been operated by Microsoft China, Renren’s core user base has stabilized, and it is a very high-quality internet asset,” Steve said. “And in the current environment, you really need it.”

Currently, the two main platforms used to criticize Lin Xiao in China are Renren.com and MSN, and his blog.

So this means Lin Xiao paid money to buy peace of mind.

"Although Renren.com is not as popular as Facebook in China in terms of user numbers or traffic, it controls most of the high-end social networking and a lot of high-end public opinion power."

Lin Xiao: "Mr. Steve, the reason why Renren.com became a so-called high-end social network and controlled the discourse of the elite is entirely because it was backed by Microsoft China. This is a product of a specific historical environment. Once it is acquired by me, this so-called high-end attribute will be lost and it will become a kind of redundant construction."

Unless it is transformed again into something like Xiaohongshu.

However, Lightning Group would rather create its own Little Red Book when the mobile internet era arrives than transform based on Renren.com, as it would be too much trouble.

Vice President Robbie Bach went straight to the point: "Lin, just tell me frankly, how can you ensure that your Fallout series, The Witcher series, and the currently developing The Last of Us are released on the Xbox platform?"

Lin Xiao thought for a while and slowly said, "Within the known five years, I need to keep my promise, so the next generation of Wizards, The Last of Us, and even the next generation of Fallout 4 and Fallout: Las Vegas should not be released on the Xbox platform."

Upon hearing this, Robbie Bach and Steve's expressions changed, turning grim.

"Lin, do you have any contract with Sony Electronic Entertainment?" Robbie asked.

Lin Xiao: "No, it was just a verbal agreement."

The three Microsoft bosses exchanged glances, a hint of sarcasm flashing in their eyes.

Should I call you stubborn? Or should I call you naive?
Sony has already exhausted the application's value for you; they can't offer you anything more. In contrast, our friendship with Microsoft is invaluable, and all you have to do is bring all your games to the Xbox platform—no additional cost whatsoever.

Sony is a giant, but compared to Microsoft, it's completely insignificant.

Robbie: "Lin, we came with sincerity, we've already extended an olive branch, but you're not accepting it for some very impractical reasons? Do you know how precious our friendship at Microsoft is?"

Lin Xiao: "Of course I value the friendship with Microsoft very much, so I also brought out what I consider to be my most valuable asset."

Robbie: "You think it's valuable, but we think it's worthless. On the contrary, you can easily give us what we want, but you refuse to give it to us."

Lin Xiao: "Because I've already used this bargaining chip in my deal with Sony, I can't sell a chip twice, and I don't want to betray my partners."

Robbie: "Lin, you may not know it now, but you will in the future, and you will know what you missed."

Then, the three Microsoft executives left without a word, and the meeting ended on bad terms.

They didn't even attend the welcome banquet prepared by Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi.

....................................

After the departure of the Microsoft Big Three, Lin Xiao and Wu Lingxi remained silent.

“They’re right. Sony has exhausted its usefulness to us, and our friendship with Microsoft is far more valuable,” Wu Lingxi said. “Our most direct enemy is Google, and we’ll soon be locked in a fierce battle.”

Wu Lingxi stared at Lin Xiao.

The man in front of them was the complete opposite of Liao Feng.

Liao Feng is an absolute pragmatist, driven by profit in everything he does, and willing to use any means necessary for even the smallest gain.

The man before me was a fanatical strategist.

In order to achieve his so-called long-term goals and his so-called strategies, he not only gave up short-term interests, but also medium- and long-term interests.

Even in the face of danger, they will still uphold their promises.

But it was precisely because of this strange thing that she was so excited.

Lin Xiao: "But, contact itself is an achievement. It's better than no contact at all. At least it lets them know a little about us."

Wu Lingxi sneered, "They don't even consider us a threat. They see us like a lion sees a hyena. It's just that we happen to have something they need, so they condescended to visit us. They thought they could easily get what they wanted, but they got nothing and just think we're ridiculous."

"Of course, Google doesn't take us seriously anymore; they're a global giant."

………………

Google CEO Eric Schmidt is playing with an HTC G1.

This is the ancestor of Android phones.

This phone... well, it's a bit odd.

It's a smartphone, but it's also rather conservative, afraid of taking too big a step and making a mess of things.

So it not only has a smartphone screen and operating system, but also a full keyboard.

With a slight slip, the keyboard and screen were torn apart.

Perhaps this is related to the mediocre sales of Apple's first-generation iPhone. Google felt that completely abandoning the full set of physical buttons on the phone was too radical and too risky.

Historically, they made a big splash at last year's Open Mobile Technology Conference, generating considerable buzz. However, when it came to actually launching their first Android phone, they were relatively low-key.

But things are different now, because there's a competitor from the same school.

The other two founders of Android were poached by China's Lin and founded Xsoft, which is also developing a mobile operating system.

Of course, Google remains arrogant in this regard and doesn't take Research X too seriously.

After all, the father of Android was at Google. When they acquired Android, they not only recruited the core team members, but also purchased the results.

Most importantly, they felt that in terms of technological capabilities, Research X was far inferior to Google, and its influence was worlds apart.

Therefore, Google will pay attention to Research X and try to suppress it, but it will not treat it as a real competitor.

In Google's view, there is only one real competitor in the mobile operating system market.

That's Microsoft!
Although iOS is very powerful, it is not only closed-source, but also used only by itself.

The X operating system is not yet in Google's sights.

Hostility, contempt!
So, although they scheduled the press conference for May 15th to preemptively thwart Lin Xiao and declare the legitimacy of their mobile phone system.

But... they won't mention Lin Xiao at all, nor will they mention the X Research Institute.

They will only utterly despise them.

You are not worthy to be our opponent, so you are not worthy of our mention.

………………

5 Month 3 Day!
Someone rushed into Google's headquarters and placed a mobile phone directly in front of Google's Schmidt.

"This is from the OEM factory, Lin Xiao's quantum phone!"

Schmidt was immediately startled when he opened it. My God!
Has this Chinese man gone mad?

Why is the phone designed like this?
Are you going to completely exhaust the potential for upgrades and progress in the next few years?

How much cost are you going to invest?

How much are you planning to sell it for?
Some things are beautiful at first glance.

In terms of design, Lin Xiao completely skipped the early days of Android phones, making his approach incredibly radical.

and so……

Seeing this phone gives me a feeling reminiscent of when the iPhone 4 was first released.

Not only does it use a 4-inch screen, but it also has a slender body.

It also features a metal frame and a glass back cover.

This design is a game-changer for all current mobile phones.

A complete and utter annihilation!

Schmidt unveiled his G1, which is a full 17 millimeters thick due to its sliding keyboard, and has a screen that is only 3.17 inches.

The two phones placed side by side look exactly like a supermodel and Sister Feng.

Then, the assistant brought out a brand new iPhone 3G.

Although it wasn't officially released, they were still able to get their hands on it, since it's difficult to keep something completely secret if it's manufactured by an OEM.

While the design of the second-generation iPhone is an upgrade from the first generation, the improvement is not significant.

This design is already quite outstanding among current mobile phones, but it still pales in comparison to the radical quantum phone.

Both of these companies want to make money, but Lin Xiao doesn't plan to make money from quantum phones.

I just want to expand my territory; I just want to make a name for myself.

He was stunned by the phone's appearance for quite some time before he finally turned it on and logged into the system.

FUCK!!!
The first thing I see when I open my phone is the same feeling.

The difference is huge.

A mobile phone screen is like a woman's face.

The design of a mobile phone is like a woman's figure.

Her physique was already amazing, and Lin Xiao was incredibly aggressive, spending a huge amount of money to customize a 480P screen from Sharp, the power of which was immediately apparent at this moment.

Not only is the screen much clearer than Google's G1, but it's also much clearer than the iPhone 3G.

It may not have much of an advantage in color quality, but in the early days, resolution was king.

Clarity is everything.

Next, and most importantly, is the operating system.

Google is technology-driven, so its underlying system is excellent, but the early system's appearance and functionality were only so-so, and the system UI could even be described as rough.

Lin Xiao's quantum phone adopted a flat design and a unified color scheme several years earlier.

So, looking at this system alone, at first glance...

It feels high-end, elegant, and beautiful.

Google's Android, at this point, seemed so crude.

FUCK FUCK FUCK!

A cold sweat broke out on Schmidt's head.

Although mobile operating systems currently generate negligible revenue, they are not worth mentioning.

Even in terms of staffing and business scope, Android is very small within the Google ecosystem.

However... it is extremely important for future strategy.

They felt they had an overwhelming advantage and an incredibly powerful system, and completely disregarded the X Research Institute.

result……

Suddenly, a monster appeared on the other side.

This... this shouldn't be a product of today; this should be a system that appears several years from now.

This should only appear after a series of aesthetic iterations and upgrades.

And then... you appeared.

"I firmly believe that they are inferior to us in terms of underlying technology, but they are far ahead of us in terms of system appearance."

"Most users don't actually pay attention to the underlying technology; they only look at the appearance."

Next, the entire technical team began to conduct intensive functional tests on the quantum phone, putting the phone's system smoothness, integrity, and stability to the extreme.

Ultimately, a conclusion was reached.

"In terms of smoothness, the iPhone 3G is slightly better, but because the quantum phone's transition animations are designed very cleverly, it gives people the illusion of being very smooth even though it is not that responsive."

"Their underlying technology is indeed not as good as ours, but the smoothness of their phones and our phones should be the same."

"Because they adopted a more aggressive SOC, which surpasses ours in both process and speed."

"The key point is that their battery capacity is also much larger than ours."

"In addition, their system stability is not as good as ours. But that was obtained under extreme brute force testing conditions, and normal users don't really perceive this difference."

"On a purely technical level, in areas that users cannot perceive, they are not as good as us."

"But in areas where users can directly experience the effects, they do an exceptionally good job."

"So, it gives everyone a certain feeling."

"These two phones are not products of the same era."

"Boss, we're in trouble! We're in big trouble!"

Google CEO Eric Schmidt closed his eyes.

Why has this situation arisen? Why?
the reason is simple.

Google is very strong, with immense strength, but it doesn't prioritize it enough. It's technology-driven, conservative, and so on, so it only put in about 80 pounds of effort to create the G1.

In fact, this was a carrier-customized phone, used only as an experimental device.

Although Lin Xiao only had 80 jin of strength, he used all his strength by borrowing strength and even overdrawing his aesthetic sense for the next few years, using up 160 jin of strength.

And then this result appeared!

But users don't care about the reasons; they only care about the results.

"That madman, that madman, no wonder he owes so much debt."

"How much does he want to sell it for? If it's less than $500, even if he sells millions of units, he'll still lose money."

"How many iPhones have been sold in the past year? Can you compare to Apple?"

At this point, a huge problem was presented to Google.

Should they still release their G1?
If not announced, Lin Xiao's quantum phone will be released on May 31st.

At that time, they will seize the legitimate title of the mobile phone system.

Everyone could see that the two phones had very similar operating systems.

If someone beats us to it, then we're in trouble.

That's why Google decided to hold a grand launch event on May 15th.

And if it's released?
The two products are vastly different.

Release a product that is destined to become obsolete?

The damage is also immense.

In this situation, it's really a matter of not releasing it or not releasing it.

Schmidt had been paying attention to Lin Xiao for a very long time, even starting to value him several years ago, and even harboring hostility and suppressing him.

But... he felt deep down that this person still wouldn't pose a threat to Google.

Because the two sides are vastly different in size, and their respective tracks are also different.

Google's core focus is currently search, while Lin Xiao's focus is on social and video. Google has a presence in both of these areas, including The Faces and YouShow. Although it is currently lagging behind in both areas, it is still closely following its competitors.

If Google succeeds in mobile operating systems, it can instantly reverse the situation and leave the competition far behind.

did not think of!

Lin Xiao took the lead in this step.

Moreover, on the surface, it seems that Lin Xiao has done a lot of things and released a lot of products in the past three years.

Two games, two blockbuster movies, and two major TV series.

But in reality, all of these things were done before; now it's just harvest time.

Over the past three years, Lin Xiao has paid an astronomical price and overcome countless difficulties, focusing solely on this one thing.

An unprecedented high-stakes gamble.

Schmidt said slowly, "Ladies and gentlemen, there are only about ten days left until the press conference originally scheduled for May 15th."

"Therefore, a result must be available within the next 24 hours!"

"The meeting will not adjourn until a result is reached!"

………………

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer left California in a rage just three days later.

A quantum phone also appeared in front of him.

This left the people present in disbelief.

This...this is the work of that Chinese person?

Such an exquisite phone?
too crazy!

The key point is that during their last meeting, Lin Xiao proposed that Microsoft should invest in quantum technology.

It sounded ridiculous at the time, but now it seems that China Forest was really sincere.

The chips offered were more than substantial.

You really go all out to make friends!

........................

Note: After returning to the hotel tonight, I rushed to write this, and finally managed to update a little earlier. I haven't been getting more than five hours of sleep a night for the past few days, I'm exhausted!
If you have any monthly passes, could you please give me a few to help me make up for it?

(End of this chapter)