Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 603 Top-Tier Virtual Game: Mortals

In early March, as the earth began to recover, industrial production in China, the world's manufacturing center and the location of the supply chains for most industries, also recovered from the Spring Festival holiday and began to enter a high-speed production phase.

This also means that a large number of companies will begin to release their new products during this period!

Among the many companies' spring product launches, the one that attracted the most attention was undoubtedly the spring product launch of Zhiyun Group.

Even before the press conference started, it was already attracting close attention from all sectors, including the smart terminal industry and the virtual industry!

Last year, in addition to the usual A-series and SX/SXL-series phones, Zhiyun Group also launched a new generation of tablets and smart Bluetooth watches at its spring product launch event. These product launches are all held at the annual spring product launch event.

In addition to these smart terminal products, Zhiyun Group also released several virtual devices last year, including the highly influential Yun VW L1, which was jokingly referred to as a "youthful beggar version" of virtual devices. The sales of this model were astonishing after its launch.

In the past year, the Yun VW L1 virtualization device has shipped more than 2.3 million units worldwide, directly driving the total number of virtualization devices shipped by Zhiyun Group to over 3.5 million units, a truly remarkable growth rate.

Due to the existence of virtual devices, Zhiyun Group's spring product launch event has become increasingly important and influential in recent years, attracting a great deal of global attention.

Over the years, the three major product launch events of Zhiyun Group have gradually evolved into events featuring their own core products.

The fall launch event in August will focus on the S series phones, followed by various smart home products. In addition, it will also play an important role in launching new cutting-edge technology products.

The winter launch event in December will focus on intelligent robots, while also releasing a series of PC products, including business laptops, mini PCs, and all-in-one PCs.

The spring launch event in March will focus on virtual devices, and will also release A-series and SX/SXL series mobile phones, tablets, Bluetooth watches and other smart terminal products.

It is worth noting that all three press conferences only released consumer-grade products, including smartphones and other smart terminals, as well as computers, robots, and virtual reality devices—all of which are consumer products that consumers can directly purchase.

The launch events for various chips, another core business of Zhiyun Group, are held separately. For example, the launch events for Zhiyun Semiconductor are usually held in June and November.

Its main products include x86 instruction set CPUs, W-series SOCs for external supply, consumer-grade graphics cards (GPUs), and more importantly, computing power chips, including APO graphics cards, PX chips, LC1 chips, etc. Among them, the most eye-catching is naturally the APO series graphics cards.

The launch of each generation of APO series graphics cards causes a huge surge in the global computing power market, the artificial intelligence industry, and even the financial market, with a very significant impact.

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On March 13th, Zhiyun Group officially held its spring press conference, which was hosted by Xu Shenxue and assisted by Ji Chenghe.

At this year's spring product launch, Zhiyun Group did not make many changes in the field of smart terminals, mainly focusing on routine upgrades, with little change in other technical features.

The only significant change is that the new generation A20 phone adopts a new generation of under-display ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology from Wanjin Technology, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhiyun Group and the exclusive unlocking solution supplier for Zhiyun Group and Vcool Electronics!
Under-display ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology is not a new term. Many manufacturers have adopted this technology for several years... However, the under-display ultrasonic fingerprint recognition technology at that time was not perfect, and the actual application experience was not good, so it did not cause much of a stir.

Subsequently, after Vcool Electronics took the lead in fully adopting under-display photoelectric fingerprint recognition technology, it quickly gained popularity due to its low cost and good user experience.

In a short time, with the exception of Zhiyun and Apple continuing to use 3D facial recognition, other mobile phone manufacturers around the world rushed to develop under-display photoelectric fingerprint technology.

Another very important reason is that the patents for 3D facial recognition technology are severely restricted. Currently, only Zhiyun and Apple have them globally, and others cannot do it... It's not that they can't do it, but they can't circumvent the patents of these two companies.

The under-display optoelectronic technology was initially developed by Wanjin Technology, a subsidiary of Zhiyun Group. However, Wanjin Technology only supplies Zhiyun and Weiku, and never supplies other manufacturers!
However... another domestic company, Qianding Technology, which specializes in smart terminal unlocking solutions, has already made one.

Qianding Technology is also a legitimate third-party supplier, and its products are supplied globally... As a result, overnight, major mobile phone manufacturers all 'developed' under-display fingerprint phones... In those years, even Samsung used Qianding Technology's under-display fingerprint technology to make its first generation of full-screen phones.

As it has developed, under-display optoelectronic technology is now very mature, with relatively low cost, easy integration by mobile phone manufacturers, and good security.

However, there are still some limitations to unlocking, especially as it is greatly affected by oil and humidity... Simply put, it is easy to fail to unlock when your fingers are sweaty or wet.

Even so, in the past few years, the vast majority of mobile phones worldwide have used under-display optoelectronic unlocking solutions. Even the early C series of Zhiyun Group, the current Xinyun brand, and the A series under the Zhiyun brand all use under-display optoelectronic technology.

This situation began to change last year. First, after years of research and development, Samsung finally developed its first commercially viable under-display ultrasonic technology solution, which was then applied to its flagship model last year.

Seeing that Samsung is using an under-display ultrasonic solution in its new Galaxy phone, Zhuyun Group has also adopted the same technology in its new A20 phone... Zhuyun Group's subsidiary, Wanjin Technology, has never given up on the research and development of under-display ultrasonic solutions over the years.

I just felt the technology wasn't mature enough before, and under-display optoelectronics was pretty good, so I kept putting it off.

Now it seems that Samsung has adopted an under-display ultrasonic solution, and the technology is even inferior to its own under-display ultrasonic solution.

So I simply used it on my A20 phone myself.

In addition to the under-display ultrasonic solution, the A20 phone also uses the side-press fingerprint unlocking technology that has been used in the A series in recent years. It adopts a dual technology solution of under-display ultrasonic fingerprint + side-press capacitive fingerprint unlocking.

Just by looking at the unlocking scheme and the design, you can tell the mission of the A-series phones: to compete with Samsung's Galaxy series and other manufacturers' high-end flagship phones!
Zhiyun Group doesn't expect the A-series phones to sell in large quantities; it only needs to act as a roadblock for other mobile phone manufacturers' high-end models, setting a ceiling for other manufacturers to break through... that's enough.

Well, some consumers simply don't like 3D recognition, nor do they need the design language of the S series phones. They might prefer under-display fingerprint technology or other features of Android phones.

What Zhiyun Group wants to do is not simply to make the S-series phones better... but to create its own high-end phone that uses features such as in-display fingerprint scanning, side fingerprint scanning, and a small punch-hole screen, but also boasts a top-tier S-series SoC and the Yun OS ecosystem...

But here's the key point: these phones are cheaper than the S series, with entry-level models starting at just over four thousand and high-end models at just over six thousand!

What is the purpose?
It's actually very simple: just tell consumers that what other manufacturers boast about as top-notch technology is just second-rate stuff in our product!
What makes a top-of-the-line phone? It's not other manufacturers' flagship phones, nor is it the A series, but rather our Zhiyun Group's S series phones.

The purpose of Zhiyun Group in developing the A-series phones was actually to sell more S-series phones... This resulted in almost every generation of A-series models having a very strong targeted design and technology application, specifically aimed at targeting competitors.

This year's A20 phone is clearly designed to target Samsung's new generation Galaxy models, and also to target Apple and other manufacturers' high-end flagship models... continuing to act as the gatekeeper, protecting the S series phones!

Besides the A20 phone, there are also the S20X and S20XL phones, which are not much different from last year. They are still products made from mature components to clear inventory... After so many years, even consumers have become used to the characteristics of the SX/SXL series and directly regard them as old S series phones!

Moreover, its sales are quite good. After all, it has 3D face recognition, and most importantly, the price is relatively cheap. You can buy it for just over three thousand yuan... It is one of the choices for many consumers who like S series phones but cannot afford them.

Aside from the two mobile phone products, there are also smart tablets and Bluetooth watches, which haven't changed much. They've just had the same chips and screens upgraded, so there's not much to say.

After Ji Chenghe took the stage to host the launch of various smart terminal products, it was time for the highlight of this year's spring launch event: the release of the new generation of smart cloud virtual devices.

Xu Shenxue personally hosted the launch of this core product!

After Xu Shenxue took office, the first thing he announced was the flagship product Yun VW S4, which adopts a large number of new technologies, especially the new generation computing center architecture!

The new top-of-the-line flagship S4 features an APO6000 graphics card and is equipped with a new generation of computing center architecture.

This marks the first time in two years since Zhiyun Group launched its virtual equipment that it has upgraded the computing power of its top-of-the-line flagship device!
Upgrade APO5000 to APO6000!

"The next-generation Yun VW S4 computing center will use four APO6000/80GB cards, paired with the ZY40 chip, and adopt a brand-new computing architecture to provide more ample computing power support for the S4. Its overall computing power is 2.8 times that of the previous generation S3!"
"At the same time, we have adopted a new generation of X6 graphics card and a 6.5 generation Micro OLED screen in the display module, which can provide a more perfect picture than the S3 model, with a comprehensive display effect of more than twice, and can support more advanced virtual display technologies."

"A more powerful computing center, coupled with more powerful virtual graphics processing capabilities, allows the S4 model to present virtual graphics at a level that is indistinguishable from reality!"

"Below are the 2D images converted from virtual images of the S4 and S3 models, respectively. You can compare them and you will find that the virtual images supported by the S4 model have made great progress in terms of detail and realism!"

"Of course, the converted 2D images are far from being able to present the realism of the virtual images on the S4 model, not even reaching one percent of the effect. I suggest that everyone use the S4 model to enter the virtual world to experience it in the future. Believe me, it will be an ultimate virtual world experience!"

"We have also carried out a new round of technological upgrades to the motion module. The response speed of the omnidirectional treadmill is 80% faster than the previous generation, and the precision is 150% higher... To achieve this, we have used the most advanced motor control module currently available to mankind in the chassis system of the omnidirectional treadmill. The entire system has as many as 1,300 independently operating control modules, which perfectly support real-time movement in all directions!"

"Its precision can even reach the millimeter level!"

"In addition to the sitting mode, the robotic arm module has also added a backrest mode, as well as acceleration and gravity simulation modules!"

"It is also equipped with a new generation of LiDAR, gravity sensor, pressure sensor, high-definition camera, infrared camera, as well as auxiliary equipment such as motion-sensing clothing, helmet, shoe covers, and gloves, which is enough to capture any detail of the user's movement within milliseconds."

"We have pushed the limits of current human technology in the hardware upgrade of the entire motion module!"

"But that's still not the most impressive part. The most impressive part is the AI ​​motion algorithm that supports the movement of the entire motion module and its interaction with virtual content!"

"Compared to the previous generation, the new generation of AI motion algorithms has a smarter model. With the support of powerful computing resources, it can perceive, analyze, and predict information in real time, make decisions, and drive the entire motion module to perfectly match the user's movements."

"A more powerful motion module and a more powerful computing center enable the Yun VW S4 model to support the operation of a better virtual world!"

"For example, Yihai Technology's newly developed large-scale virtual online game 'Fanren'. Now, please welcome Yihai Technology's CEO, Huang Jianian, to introduce their new virtual game to everyone!" Xu Shenxue had previously introduced and boasted a lot about Yun VW S4 before inviting Huang Jianian to the stage to introduce their new virtual game, Fanren... Of course, the core purpose was not to introduce the virtual game Fanren, but to boast about the virtual game features of S4.

Huang Jianian went on stage with a smile and praised Xu Shenxue!
It's become common practice for Zhiyun Group to use Yihai Technology's applications in some of its product launches. This was the case with the earliest S-series phones, and later with computers as well. The same applies to virtual devices now.

In its early days, Yihai Technology thrived in the gaming industry by partnering with Zhiyun Group, eventually becoming the world's number one game developer. With the high profits from its gaming business, Yihai Technology was able to develop other entertainment, short video, e-commerce, and other businesses.

After Huang Jianian took the stage, the demonstration staff next to him also put on motion-sensing suits, then put on virtual reality headsets and entered the Yun VW S4 treadmill.

At the same time, the demonstration footage of the Yun VW S4 was converted into 3D and projected onto the large screen.

To create a more immersive experience for the audience, the virtual display was rendered in 3D, requiring viewers to wear 3D glasses to view it.

However, to facilitate the large number of viewers watching the live stream and for subsequent promotion, there was also a smaller screen on site playing 2D footage.

The main feature is Yun VW's virtual image presentation. To achieve a sense of depth and realism, what users see is actually a 3D image, not the 2D image of a traditional monitor.

This is why watching 2D graphics from virtual games on devices like phones or computers, even if the graphics aren't high-definition, can have a huge difference from the actual experience!
There are inherently huge differences between 2D and 3D graphics.

Therefore, for anyone other than the user who wants a better experience with the output screen, it's best to watch a 3D video signal and then wear 3D glasses... similar to watching a 3D movie.

However, in most cases people don't have the means or find it too troublesome... After all, they mostly watch live streams or short videos on their phones and are too lazy to get 3D glasses.

However, 3D glasses were provided to the audience at the press conference, and the images they saw after putting them on were quite stunning.

The demo started with the boot screen of the classic Yun VW virtual operating system and quickly transitioned to a new virtual game screen!
What greets you is a landscape that seems like a fairyland, with ancient mountain buildings, cranes soaring in the sky, and even a giant dragon from the East.

There are also immortals who ride on swords, exuding an otherworldly and ethereal aura.

The entire opening scene makes you feel like you're in a fairyland.

At this moment, Huang Jianian's words rang in everyone's ears: "What you are seeing now is 'Fanren,' a top-tier large-scale virtual game developed by Yihai Technology with huge investment, more than 6,000 developers, and several years of development. It adopts the traditional Xianxia theme and has invited many top Xianxia authors in China to co-write and build a complete and rich Xianxia world for players to explore!"

"Players can freely choose from a variety of different starting points, either randomly or by selecting a specific method. They can freely join different factions or sects, or become a free-spirited cultivator. Players can even establish their own sects, merchants, and so on. The game adopts a highly free approach, giving players the greatest degree of freedom!"

"In terms of content, we have not only carefully prepared a large number of fixed NPC or creature characters, but we have also used artificial intelligence to generate scenes, characters and events to provide players with personal, unique game instances!"

"Therefore, strictly speaking, this game has transcended the category of traditional games and is now an artificial intelligence game!"

Next, Huang Jianian gave a detailed introduction to this artificial intelligence generation mode... The others present didn't seem to have any particular feeling, but some people in the game industry were dumbfounded... Damn, it's just a game, does Yihai Technology need to spend so much money?

They even put artificial intelligence on it... Isn't this blatant bullying?!

This algorithm clearly has AI technology support from Zhiyun Group, making it impossible for other manufacturers to copy! It also has crucial computing power support; this kind of thing obviously can't be done with local computing power alone, requiring massive AI computing power from Yihai Technology's servers… That costs money!

If this is done, won't virtual games only be available to large, well-funded companies in the future?

Most small and medium-sized game companies simply can't handle this level of AI-powered games; they don't even have that much computing power...

They were naturally unaware that Yihai Technology internally placed great importance on the virtual game "Fanren"... or rather, highly valued its virtual game business.

Yihai Technology is pinning its hopes on the future development of its virtual gaming business, which is expected to become a new core source of revenue and profit growth for the company.

With the decline of PC games and the intensification of competition in mobile games, it is not easy for Yihai Technology to maintain its title as the world's largest game company. It needs to constantly innovate, and they regard the virtual game business as the next era of the game business.

Even considering the enormous R&D investment, Yihai Technology's entire virtual game business is currently operating at a huge loss... but they still maintain a massive investment.

It's not just Yihai Technology; almost all the major internet companies, both domestic and international, are doing the same thing... They're all investing huge resources in the virtual content field, without even blinking an eye at the prospect of massive losses.

Anyone in the internet industry knows that the virtual era has arrived. Major internet giants, and even small and medium-sized internet companies, especially game companies, are all eyeing virtual content.

How high or how fast the virtual content business will develop is beyond their control... that's a matter for Zhiyun Group.

But they know that the virtual age has arrived, and if they don't keep up now, they will fall behind!

What if virtual content services become the core business of future internet services? If we don't get involved now, won't we fall behind in the future?

Let's get started now, no matter what happens in the future!

Especially for top-tier internet companies, virtual content business is a necessary investment, even if it's not profitable or even results in huge losses!
But if we're talking about radical, Yihai Technology is the most radical!
The investment in just one virtual game, "Mortal," is astronomical. All sorts of advanced technologies are piled on like crazy, even artificial intelligence generation technology is being used...

In a sense, the game "Ordinary People" has become a showcase of Yihai Technology's technical prowess!

This is all to solidify its leading position in the virtual gaming industry and maintain its dominant share of the virtual gaming market!
Over the past year, Yihai Technology has faced continuous challenges from numerous companies in the virtual gaming market.

The game "Post-Apocalyptic Warfare" received critical acclaim but not commercial success... It received great reviews, but few players were willing to spend money on it!
Kingdoms of the Summit is quite good, being the world's highest-grossing and most profitable virtual game, but it also faces severe challenges, with its market share continuing to decline!

In overseas markets, they face fierce competition from Google and Microsoft's new virtual games, as well as a host of domestic game developers launching surprise attacks overseas. These factors have led to a continuous decline in the market share of their flagship title, Kingdom of Kings, in overseas markets.

The same applies to the domestic market. Although Kingdom of Kings remains the leader in the domestic virtual game market, Magic Blade, a game that disregards martial ethics, has attracted a large number of players with its unique PK mechanism, continuously impacting Kingdom of Kings' market share.

Meanwhile, domestic companies such as Tencent and NetEase have launched their flagship virtual games and have gradually captured a portion of the market.

Then, both domestically and internationally, a large number of small and medium-sized game developers have created all sorts of messy virtual games, which have also eroded a portion of the market.

Although the Kingdom of Kings is still very profitable and its revenue continues to rise, its market share continues to decline, which has put tremendous pressure on Yihai Technology's senior management.

In particular, the virtual game "Magic Blade" which disregards martial ethics has put immense pressure on them both domestically and internationally... Now, "Magic Blade" has become the second highest-grossing virtual game globally, with the second-highest number of concurrent online users.

Moreover, the gap between them and the top of the kingdom is getting smaller and smaller!
A third-rate virtual game created by a small, run-down company has somehow managed to outperform a group of large-scale virtual games meticulously crafted by major corporations, even putting immense pressure on leading game companies like Yihai Technology. This has left Yihai Technology's top management feeling helpless!
Now, they are counting on using Mortal's Journey to the West, a top-tier masterpiece, to seize new market share and suppress other game developers, especially that crappy game, Magic Blade, which must be crushed!
With extremely low R&D investment and second- or third-rate technology, Magic Blade managed to attract a large number of players by relying on its unique PK mechanism, which disgusted a bunch of top game companies around the world!

And Yihai Technology is the most disgusting one!
On stage, Huang Jianian gave a detailed introduction to the virtual game "Fanren". After the introduction, he also said: "Fanren will be launched globally at 8 pm tonight. Everyone is welcome to come and experience it. We will also hold a martial arts competition in a month. The winner will receive a generous prize and an exclusive title!"

After Huang Jianian finished speaking, he thanked Xu Shenxue and handed the press conference over to him.
After Xu Shenxue took the stage, he continued to introduce the Yun VW virtual machine!
After introducing the flagship version, the article then moved on to the luxury version, the high-end version, and the standard version, and finally introduced the new generation youth version L2.

The most obvious change in these versions is the upgrade in computing power!
The deluxe version uses an APO6000 graphics card.

However, the high-end N series, the standard M series, and the youth L series use the new generation APO5000S and APO5000M series graphics cards.

The APO5000S is actually a version that uses 2.5D packaging technology and HBM2 memory. Its performance is one level lower than that of the original APO5000, which uses 3D packaging.

As for the APO5000M, it uses the more outdated BGA packaging technology and is still using the first-generation HBM2 memory from earlier years, so its overall performance is even worse.

However, their core is the APO5000 GPU core, which uses a 7-nanometer process!

The GPU core remains the same; what has changed is the packaging technology and memory.

This is due to changes in the cost and production capacity of advanced packaging!

There was no other way; 3D packaging capacity was insufficient, 2.5D packaging capacity was also insufficient... At the same time, the capacity of advanced HBM3 was limited and expensive, so this was the only option left.

This is also to differentiate prices; you can't use the original APO5000 in the L2 Youth Edition, which is priced at 260,000...

A genuine APO5000 graphics card costs more than that!

However, the low-end version of APO5000M/64GB/BGA package, although its computing power has plummeted, is much cheaper, making it very suitable for use in L2 virtualization devices, which are essentially youth-oriented devices.

However, regardless of the circumstances, the new generation of all virtual devices has seen a significant upgrade in its core performance indicator, namely computing power!

Even the heavily downgraded APO5000M is still much better than the APO45000M!
(End of this chapter)