Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 339 The Angry Pigeon
In the following days, Zhai Da suppressed his excitement about the upcoming launch of "Hongtu OS" and went about his life as usual.

He continues to attend classes, studies magic tricks, and even gnaws on wood.

Until Friday, June 10th, Zhai Da diligently attended classes for a day, and then drove to Taiping Airport, carrying some small items, to fly to northern Beijing.

He flies Friday night and returns Sunday night; he's done this route countless times and knows it like the back of his hand.

Airline miles have all gone up.

After visiting so many times, Xiao Lu no longer needed to pick him up and drop him off every day. Besides, it wasn't safe for that girl to drive, so Zhai Da always took a taxi to Ziyan Garden by himself.

It feels quite amazing.

Slippers, bed sheets, blankets, toothbrush, towels. Even the clothes he forgot to bring in last time were hanging on the balcony.

This house, which theoretically belongs to Lu Siwen, is full of his traces, so living here wouldn't be inconvenient at all.

It was as if he had two homes.

After resting for a night, Zhai Da drove his Land Rover to the teacher's dormitory compound early Saturday morning.

As summer approaches, the quiet courtyard grows even more lush and green, and the sentry at the gate stands ramrod straight, always indifferent and focused.

And Qian's ward remained clean and tidy.

Zhai Da's arrival brought many changes to this place, such as the desk in the corner, and the air was no longer stale. Of course, the biggest change was the mental state of the old man lying in the hospital bed.

Besides the water that helps me regain my strength, the biggest reason is that at this age, I can develop an interest in new things and have something to occupy my mind.

Rather than simply growing old and waiting for the curtain to fall.

However, this part of the work is also nearing completion. Apart from the approximately 30% of the content submitted a month ago, the final work of developing "two or three suggestions" into an "industry outlook report" is also getting closer to the end.

When Zhai Da entered the room, Old Qian smiled and put on his glasses. Over the past few months, Zhai Da had been like a switch for the old man, able to refuel his weary body.

"How's school going? Are your final exams coming up soon?"

"Next week, it's getting closer."

Professor Qian joked, "Will you get good results?"

Zhai Da laughed and said, "Of course, if I don't even have this much confidence, how can I go out and say that I am Qian Xuesen's disciple?"

"Actually, the basic courses are enough; it still depends on the final direction."

Zhai Da recalled the "motor" project, which was originally scheduled to start around the same time, but was postponed due to some unforeseen circumstances.

The main problem is that the money is being spent too quickly. I don't know how long it will take for "Hongtu OS" to generate returns, so I want to play it safe.

Mr. Qian took a sip of the fresh water that Zhai Daxin had changed: "Since you're here this time, let's discuss the situation of photovoltaics together. The data has already been sent over in advance. I took a look at it myself last week, and there are quite a few opportunities here. It's an emerging industry that relies heavily on scale."

In their previous discussions, the two believed that all industrial sectors that rely on "large-scale production" are advantageous sectors that the country has a chance to compete for in the future.

"Something came up last week and I was delayed. By the way, I have something new to show you this time."

Zhai Da took out three mobile phones and a tablet computer from his bag.

The phones are ZTE, Coolpad, and a contract phone from a certain unbranded telecom company, also known as a white-label phone; all are touchscreen phones that were released last year.

Touchscreens are the foundation of smartphones.

As for the tablet, it's more of a "conviction-driven version".

The tablet computers of later generations are defined by the iPad, a product of its time, which was launched in 2010.

Prior to this, the concept of tablet computers had existed for many years, but there had never been a definitive product. Most were simply thinner and lighter versions of laptops. For example, the one Zhai Da is holding is actually a thin and light laptop with a touchscreen from "Meidi Xiang," running "Hongtu OS" through an emulator.

Qian Lao's eyes lit up: "You've already achieved results so quickly?"

Zhai Da nodded and said, "It's a preliminary result. The optimization and testing are not yet complete, but this part requires the cooperation of hardware manufacturers."

There's no point in saying more; let's get straight to the demonstration. Zhai Da, in front of Mr. Qian, started from the moment the machine was turned on.

As you press and hold the power button, a logo appears on the ZTE phone screen.

A humanoid spherical robot, mainly blue, is lying in the upper right corner of "HOT`OS" as if dozing off; it is vividly depicted with just a few strokes.

Below it are the Chinese characters “鸿图OS”.

This simple design came from Wang Qianyu, but the direction was given by Zhai Da. The spherical robot is named "TuTu" and will appear as the mascot and logo. Zhai Da is very clear that the logo should not use words but should be symbolic, the simpler the better, just like the green robot.

If a phone manufacturer wants to add its own boot animation, this can be hidden, or it can be linked to the manufacturer's logo.

Mr. Qian looked at it very carefully. To be honest, as an elderly man from the last century, it wasn't his aesthetic point, but he could still tell that the "sense of advancement" created by the image, color scheme, and layout was still noticeable.

Zhai Da explained with a smile, "Once it wakes up, it will turn on with a small startup animation."

Mr. Qian stared intently: "Great! Great!" Ten seconds later, Mr. Qian blinked.

"OK"

Thirty seconds later, Mr. Qian hesitated and said, "This boot-up time is very long. Is the system too complex and the processor not enough?"

Zhai Da awkwardly pressed a few keys randomly: "It seems like the startup failed. I'll try again in a bit. Hehe, there are some optimization issues."

Remove the battery and turn it back on!
This time, "TuTu" finally woke up and opened her eyes.

Next, the unlock options appeared: password and gesture unlock. Zhai Da demonstrated the gesture unlock to Mr. Qian and successfully entered the main interface.

For Zhai Da, this phone was far ahead of its time in terms of both resolution and functionality. Even the touch feedback was noticeably delayed because it was a resistive screen rather than a capacitive screen.

When you slide your fingertips across the paper, there's a resistance that feels like the skin is being pulled, and your fingerprints will hurt after using it for a while.

But for Qian Lao, no, for any mobile phone user today, "Hongtu OS 1.0" is special enough.

Convenient touchscreen controls, a swipe-down message center, a quick-access function panel, and many other details embedded throughout the design.

Features include "gesture touch control", "button feedback sound effects", and "multi-tasking background".

Apart from the parts that require cooperation from hardware manufacturers, version 1.0 has already achieved most of the goals at its current scale.

Of course, there are also some pre-installed applications, and besides the less noticeable "smart dialer" and "input method," there are a few heavyweight guests.

Contestant #1: Offline Map: The map package comes from Gaode Maps. This company was founded in 2002 and has not yet entered the mobile internet field, but has been providing location services for many years. After Cheng Mo contacted them, they were very interested in the new business model and were very cooperative.

This offline map only supports route planning, does not include real-time navigation, and only includes some major cities, but it is already a very rare feature on mobile phones nowadays.

As for why real-time navigation is not supported, it's because we're currently in the 2G era, so GPS won't work well.

Incidentally, Zhai Da learned from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology that 3G will be deployed on a large scale starting this year, so his plan requires him to adapt to 3G in advance.

Contestant number two: Minimalist browser, which focuses on simple operation and fast speed. The homepage is directly integrated with commonly used websites and supports custom settings. It also supports multiple web pages.

Contestant number three: e-readers, simple yet practical software. In later generations, even dogs wouldn't use them, but nowadays, "e-books" are a separate category, a unique usage habit of business people. As for putting pirated novels or other things on them, the user agreement states that it has nothing to do with the developers.
Contestant number four: Lock Assistant. Since mobile phone theft is more rampant than battery theft these days, consumers are very concerned about this function. It can remotely lock the phone and erase data via SMS key, and provide a fuzzy location function based on GPS.

Of course, this still doesn't stop professional ROM flashers; it just means it's somewhat practical.
But not much.

Contestants number five, six, and seven: The test versions of three mini-games, "Fruit Assassin," "Temple Escape," and "Angry Pigeon," are progressing smoothly thanks to the continued collaboration between Chu Xiang and Xiang You and Cheng Mo.

I won't go into basic applications like calculators, memo pads, and photo management.

Zhai Da demonstrated for about half an hour, and then did it again using a "tablet computer". He also guided Mr. Qian to play "Angry Pigeon" a couple of times.

Pull the slingshot and launch!

Pigeon, with his center-parted hairstyle, bounced away, hitting zero targets. This well-known image, carrying Zhai Da's wicked sense of humor, appeared more than a decade ahead of schedule.

Looking at the pigeons flying off the screen, Old Qian glanced at Zhai Da with some confusion.

"Isn't this trajectory wrong?"

Did he fill in the gravity coefficient with his feet? And he was mentally calculating it just now!
Zhai Da joked, "It's just a small game, the physics engine isn't that rigorous. I'll have them add a 'Qian Xuesen trajectory' later!"

Old Qian smiled and continued dragging the slingshot.

Watching Mr. Qian's focused and earnest effort as he flicked the pigeon into the air once again, Zhai Da, sitting beside the hospital bed, suddenly felt a moment of disorientation.

This scenario is probably unprecedented in any other time and space.
People from the previous era were exposed to things from the next era ahead of time.

But this is just the beginning. There will be many more new things that Professor Qian will witness!

It's not just Zhai Da; that "Industry Foresight Report" has indeed attracted the attention of higher authorities and is currently under discussion.

Time passed slowly, and Mr. Qian closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.

In his view, Zhai Da created an "operating system" based on the "future" he imagined in his works.

In previous exchanges, Qian had already gained a basic understanding of the importance of "mobile operating systems" and the empowerment they can bring to the internet and software industries.

The two had even worked together to complete a report on how to take this path; the only difference was that the first person to walk this path was Zhai Da himself.

He dislikes abusing his influence, but he can clearly distinguish between what constitutes abuse and what constitutes "driving forward."

After a long silence, Mr. Qian spoke:

Whom do you need me to introduce you to?

Simple and direct.

(End of this chapter)