Chapter 44 Assembling the Dream Team

After sending off President Pei, Chang You hurriedly gathered the core employees of the design department for an emergency meeting.

The new phone was the top priority for Otto Technologies' research and development. Whether or not they could continue the success of the previous Otto E1 phone depended on this design. They certainly couldn't afford to be careless.

Soon, everyone arrived.

Chang You looked around at the crowd. Each of these key employees was clearly full of energy.

After all, they had received generous year-end bonuses, and they had enjoyed a long Spring Festival holiday. Everyone was eager to get to work and make something great.

"First, I have some good news for everyone. We're finally going to make a new phone!"

Excited and expectant expressions appeared on everyone's faces.

"However..." Chang You's tone shifted, "President Pei has made some requirements for the new phone."

Everyone nodded in agreement, considering this to be perfectly normal.

After all, the success of the previous Otto E1 phone was also due to President Pei's guidance. Everyone felt more at ease knowing that President Pei had made requirements.

Chang You said, "President Pei wants us to adopt a full-screen design with a pop-up camera, use as many new technologies from the supply chain as possible, and… the position of the pop-up camera is quite special…"

Chang You briefly explained President Pei's requirements, especially emphasizing the position of the pop-up camera.

The crowd exchanged glances, seeing confusion in each other's eyes.

Many phone manufacturers were adopting the full-screen design with a pop-up camera, but all the models currently known to be in development had the pop-up camera at the very top.

What did it mean to put it on the upper-left side of the long edge?

Chang You's expression was serious: "So, the primary purpose of today's meeting is to analyze President Pei's intentions and determine the design方案 for the new phone."

"President Pei was quite vague about some of the details of this phone, but he repeatedly emphasized the position of this pop-up camera. I think this is the focus that President Pei is emphasizing."

"Xiao Jiang, you're in charge of exterior design. Tell us what you think first."

Xiao Jiang had come with his laptop and had already quickly drawn a simple diagram in the software.

He frowned slightly and said, "First of all, in terms of styling, compared to those phones with pop-up cameras at the top, a side pop-up camera is more unique and recognizable."

"Users hold the lower half of the phone when they hold it, so this camera position won't be blocked by their hand. And most people use their right hand when taking selfies, so the selfie angle is also very suitable. There won't be a situation where the camera is placed below and you can see up their nostrils. Whether holding it horizontally or vertically, the photos taken should look better..."

"In addition, if it's placed in this position, the camera module on the back must be designed to be centered, which will also make the back more aesthetically pleasing."

"But these reasons aren't very compelling. Since President Pei specifically emphasized putting the pop-up camera in this position, there must be some very important consideration."

Xiao Jiang gave a few points from the perspective of the camera itself, but clearly these reasons were not sufficient.

He looked at Chang You: "Chang, did President Pei say anything else about the camera?"

Chang You tried hard to recall what President Pei had said before.

Suddenly, he remembered a detail that he had previously overlooked: "That's right! I previously hinted to President Pei that placing it in this position was a bit strange, and asked if he wanted it to be symmetrical, that is, to put the pop-up camera in the center."

"As a result, President Pei misunderstood. He actually said that we could add another pop-up camera in the upper-right corner or the lower-left corner to make it symmetrical! But this scheme is too outrageous, so President Pei was probably joking."

Xiao Jiang frowned slightly: "Upper-right or lower-left…"

He quickly operated on his laptop, adding a pop-up camera to the upper part of the long edge on the right side of the phone and another pop-up camera to the lower part of the long edge on the left side to see the effect.

"After adding it to the upper-right corner, the whole phone becomes a T-shape. I don't see anything special about it."

"If you add it to the lower-left corner... hey, Chang, don't those two pop-up cameras look like shoulder buttons?"

Chang You looked at Xiao Jiang's computer screen and saw that on the phone prototype, there were square-shaped protrusions at the top and bottom of the long edge on the left side. If you held the phone horizontally, they were exactly like two shoulder buttons.

The shoulder button design is a standard design on console controllers.

According to the standard usage of the controller, the shoulder buttons and trigger buttons are pressed by the index fingers of both hands. In racing games, they are usually the accelerator and brakes, while in shooting games, they are usually aiming and shooting. They are very important buttons.

Chang You instantly had an idea: "Could it be that President Pei is hinting that we should make two trigger buttons and develop a gaming phone specifically for mobile games?"

"Are you saying that we should combine the pop-up camera with the trigger buttons?"

"No, President Pei said that in a joking tone, and he didn't specifically emphasize that we had to make two pop-up cameras."

"Besides, no matter what, there's no point in making two pop-up cameras."

Xiao Jiang said, "Chang, this is obviously President Pei's hint!"

"Mechanical structures take up too much space. One front-facing camera is enough. There's definitely no point in making two. But the reason why President Pei mentioned this is obviously because he still wants us to make this kind of 'symmetrical design'!"

"Chang, do you think this design will work: the pop-up camera is still in the upper position of the long edge, and at the same time, we'll make it the right trigger button. In the lower position of the long edge, we'll make a separate left trigger button."

"This pop-up camera will only pop up in a few situations, such as selfies and video calls. In other scenarios, it will retract and only protrude a little bit, existing as a trigger button that can be pressed."

"The left trigger button doesn't have a pop-up camera. It has the same feel as the right trigger button. It's wider than other physical buttons, protrudes from the body, can be pressed, has a strong rebound, and has a longer key travel. We'll give players the best possible gaming experience."

Chang You nodded suddenly: "In other words, this phone is a gaming phone with two built-in physical trigger buttons?"

Xiao Jiang nodded: "Yes, and if you think about it this way, a lot of things come together!"

"Our phone will use a flagship chip, the best possible components, and a battery capacity that is much larger than ordinary phones. It would be a serious waste to use such good performance just for browsing the web and chatting. We definitely need to use it for playing games."

The others in the meeting room were inspired and began to speak freely.

"That's right! A key problem with pop-up cameras is that the pixels of the front-facing camera won't be particularly high, and male users who like to play games won't particularly care about this. This shows that the pop-up camera方案 is more suitable for gaming phones."

"That's right, since we're using full-screen technology, the phone's screen will definitely change from the traditional 16:9 to 19:9 or 19.5:9, which means the entire screen will become wider. For playing mobile games horizontally, the field of vision will be more open, which is an advantage over traditional phones."

"I think there's also a very important point. What is Tenda's core business? It's games!"

"At that time, we can work with Tenda Games or Shang Yang Games to release a racing or shooting mobile game, such as a mobile version of 'A Lonely Desert Road' or a mobile version of 'Sea Fortress', and then do some exclusive optimization for the phone... wouldn't that highlight our advantages?"

Chang You nodded frequently as he listened.

It all clicked, it all made sense!

No wonder President Pei wanted to put the pop-up camera in this position. It turned out that he was hinting that we should make two shoulder buttons!

The pop-up camera already has a mechanical structure, so using this mechanical structure to make a physical shoulder button specifically for playing games is also making the most of its use. It's more cost-effective than other phones with pop-up cameras.

As for the left shoulder button below, although it also needs a mechanical structure, it doesn't need to be as big as the pop-up camera, so it won't take up too much internal space. It's completely acceptable.

In addition, with other details such as the full screen and flagship chip, players' gaming experience will definitely be significantly improved.

Chang You was very happy: "That's right! That's definitely what President Pei was thinking!"

"Then let's follow this idea and improve the details!"

With a clear direction, the crowd was no longer as confused as they were at the beginning, and they began to discuss the remaining details of the phone, each contributing their own ideas.

"Since we've decided to make a gaming phone, let's make the shape cooler! I think we can make a mech-style back shell and add LED lights. After all, the E1 phone also has LED lights, which can be regarded as a continuation of tradition."

"The battery capacity must still be large, and the recent fast-charging technology seems to have been upgraded, so we can use it."

"The new under-screen fingerprint technology is not yet particularly easy to use, but let's add it to increase the sense of technology."

"You definitely need dual speakers for playing games."

"Move the charging port and headphone jack to the center of the right side of the phone, so they won't block your hands when playing games horizontally."

"Also, put the power button and volume buttons all on the right side of the phone to make room for the two shoulder buttons."

"Since players are already used to the weight of our phones, and we need a large battery, we don't need to make protruding rear cameras. In this way, the appearance of the entire phone can be further improved."

Everyone chimed in, and soon, the general design方案 for this phone was in place.

Although there were still many details that needed to be carefully considered, the overall direction of the phone was already very clear.

Xiao Jiang listened and quickly recorded the main points of everyone's discussion.

Chang You was very happy: "Okay, let's finalize this方案! Everyone, start preparing immediately!"

"Thinking about it now, President Pei is still prescient and sees much further than I do."

"I originally wanted to make this phone according to the successful experience of the E1, but now it seems that I was obviously too conservative."

"I have a feeling that the new phone made according to President Pei's方案 will definitely be a great success!"