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Chapter 1260: Chapter 1116: This is What Smartphones Are (Please Subscribe!)
"Epoch?"
The journalists present took notice of this word.
Could it be the name of the mobile phone?
And, surprisingly,
it was quite imposing.
Just hearing it sparked a desire to find out more. It also helped that Qingyuan Technology’s secrecy had been so effective; despite a week of building up hype, they hadn’t even released the brand name of the phone.
At this moment,
Comet Video had started the live broadcast.
Due to it being featured at the top of the homepage,
and with the pop-up link and the title which read "Tang Qing Speaks in person," many people clicked through directly and landed on the live broadcast page, the screen switching back and forth between Tang Qing and several celebrities.
It captured the audience’s attention in an instant.
The barrage of comments was flying fast.
Having finished speaking,
Luo Qiang glanced at Tang Qing, who nodded, then said into the microphone,
"Welcome, media journalists, friends, leaders to the event. I am Luo Qiang, CEO of Qingyuan Technology. The product launch event for Qingyuan Technology’s first smartphone ’Epoch’ now begins."
After finishing,
Luo Qiang stepped off the stage.
Just when they thought Tang Qing would come on stage,
suddenly,
the venue went dark.
A long piece of music began to play, and a video started on the projection in front. They knew it should be the promotional video previously shot by Uranus. They all watched with great interest.
Even Uranus himself was glued to the screen.
To be honest,
he had filmed the advertisement,
but he hadn’t seen the final edited product.
He didn’t know how the effects turned out because throughout the entire advertisement, he hadn’t said a single word.
He just followed the script,
making certain expressions and movements.
Equally curious were Hu Ge and his company, who were the spokespeople for ’Epoch.’ The problem was, annoyingly so, they had yet to see what the smartphone looked like; they too had only filmed actions and recited ad copy.
This was somewhat awkward.
Just now, backstage,
Tang Qing had been very secretive,
saying that the ’suspense’ should be surprising and knowing in advance would spoil the fun—it was as unforgivable as spoilers. So, they didn’t ask further, simply praying that ’Epoch’ wouldn’t disappoint them.
In the video,
it depicted a land shrouded in darkness, where people in the city could only rely on torches for light, living life expressionlessly, like zombies, the air filled with helplessness and despair.
Soon,
Uranus appeared on the screen. He wasn’t numb like the others; his face often showed an uncharacteristic curiosity and yearning. In a dream, he was guided by a bright light, leading him to a cloud-piercing mountaintop far away.
There,
the light said there was a key to saving the world.
He,
without hesitation, set off.
After many dangers and near-death experiences, he finally, with tattered clothes, climbed below the summit. He looked back at the small city faintly glowing with firelight in the distance, as well as the dim world.
He turned,
and continued to move forward.
The prelude music started.
When he had almost exhausted his strength and passed through the thick clouds,
his eyes
were covered in light.
In an instant,
as if triggering a mechanism, the darkness that had enveloped the sky for who knows how many years was being dissolved by the spreading light, and in a few moments, the entire world was bathed in the warm sunlight.
The world,
now had color.
At that moment,
the main melody of the music began.
"The night has given me black eyes,"
"But I use them to seek the light."
"..."
This MV,
whether it was the audience on site or those watching the live broadcast, all thought it was flawless. These special effects were definitely movie-level. If made longer, it would make a pretty good movie.
Uranus was quite pleased with this MV; the editing was simply perfect.
As the last line of lyrics fell,
Uranus stood at the summit, embracing the endless radiance.
At that time,
the appearance of Tang Qing’s smartphone appeared on the screen, accompanied by two Chinese characters—’Epoch’—and an advertisement slogan underneath: "Epoch, the world, can be more beautiful."
Seeing the appearance of ’Epoch,’
the venue erupted.
"Is this... their smartphone?"
"So beautiful."
"The screen is really big."
"..."
The audience in front of the live broadcast became excited as well.
"Great, it’s not a half-button extended feature phone, if it was, I would definitely curse out the designer."
"Where are the buttons? Why are there no buttons?"
"A full touch screen phone? Looks like my wallet is going to slim down."
"Wow, Tang Qing is pulling a fast one."
"..."
At this point,
the lights in the venue came on.
Tang Qing stood up. 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
He walked onto the stage.
Behind him,
the screen also changed to the multifaceted exterior display of ’Epoch,’ and it was a dynamic display—three colors, rotating 360 degrees, while the phone’s screen was lit up.
Every one is a different theme.
A background of stars.
A background with a photo with the spokesperson.
The last one is an animation with a strong festive vibe; each theme has a different key appearance.
Looking at the surprised eyes below.
Tang Qing smiled slightly.
"Welcome everyone, as you just saw on the screen, this is the ’Epoch’ smartphone that Qingyuan Technology is about to launch, the epitome of the most cutting-edge technology of modern times."
"Just as the Epoch’s slogan says, ’The world can be more beautiful,’ this year is the birth year of smartphones, and ’Epoch’ is named accordingly. It signifies the arrival of a new era."
"This is what a smartphone is."
Upon hearing this.
The journalists below flushed with excitement.
Big news, indeed.
Setting aside the phone’s performance, the appealing design alone, with its streamlined body and various themed wallpapers and stylistically diverse buttons,
has captured the hearts of the men and women in attendance.
Those watching the live broadcast also had eyes shining brightly.
Tang Qing continued, "Alright, to the main topic. Talking here won’t be as effective as demonstrating. First, please allow me to show you some of the basic functionality of this phone, starting with the keys."
"A 6.3-inch touchscreen, we’ve discarded all physical caption buttons, leaving only three: a function button and two volume buttons. The screen utilizes virtual buttons, and three virtual keys are more than enough."
Following that.
Tang Qing demonstrated typing, mistouch prevention, unlocking, wallpaper changing, ringtone changing, and other functionalities.
Everyone discovered.
That just these.
Already far surpassed the first generation Apple device.
"Of course, these operations are just the basics. If that was all, there would be no need for my phone to exist. Next, I will show you why it’s called a smartphone."
Having said this.
The phone in Tang Qing’s hand was already mirrored onto the screen behind him.
Everyone could clearly see what Tang Qing was doing.
Connecting... WLAN?
Everyone held their breath.
Eager to see what Tang Qing was going to do, they saw him enter eight eights, click connect, and a few seconds later, a connection success screen appeared, with an arc-shaped signal icon showing up on the top left corner of the phone.
"This is a 4G phone, but due to the lack of a 4G signal, I can only connect to a wireless network," Tang Qing explained.
Afterward.
Tang Qing opened an icon for the Epoch Store that he had introduced earlier.
That had not been taken seriously by them.
The screen transitioned.
Many categories appeared inside.
"Show all" as the default.
In the store.
There were only five apps.
--- Comet Video.
--- Comet Music.
--- Qi Dian Literature.
--- Xiao Xiao.
--- Penguin.
Comet Video was the first one Tang Qing downloaded. To speed up the process, he clicked download on all the other apps. While it was slower, one could clearly feel the rapid movement of the progress bar.
And in the top right corner.
The download speed was being displayed, fluctuating around 6 MB per second.
Only one of these was a third-party software. They had contacted Tencent earlier and provided them with a Sirius System emulator to develop a compatible version based on their existing platform.
They were very efficient.
They produced a finished product in just one week.
Now.
Their product manager was sitting below.
Seeing the demonstration on stage, he became a little restless. The appearance of such a phone and the diversely functional apps would extend the internet industry, representing a new era of opportunity.
If the Penguin Empire capitalized on this.
It would continue to shine.
But if it fell behind.
It could be replaced by others.
Watching Tang Qing on stage, fear flickered in his eyes. Such a man with exceptional vision and technical integration capabilities, if he had the ambition to dip into communication software, it would be a catastrophe for Tencent.
And the signs were already there.
Xiao Xiao.
It already had communication capabilities. Although, for now, only office workers were downloading Xiao Xiao, one couldn’t deny that it had begun to set foot in the communication software realm.
If combined with ’Epoch’.
A chill went down his spine.
...
At this moment.
Comet Video was installed.
He opened it.
Playback.
Seeing Tang Qing watch videos smoothly.
Even watching the live broadcast of the press conference without interruption, no one doubted the future of the phone. When data could move freely on such a terminal, what else could restrain the rampant self-replication of data?
Next.
Tang Qing began demonstrating other software.
Xiao Xiao.
A software that had become an indispensable presence in the office sector, previously only functional on computers, now allowed people to send and receive emails and work from their mobiles, likely causing many office workers to weep again.
Twenty minutes later.
When Tang Qing had demonstrated all of Epoch’s functionalities.
Both the audience on-site.
And those watching the live broadcast understood one fact.
’Epoch’.
Would truly herald a new epoch.
An epoch belonging to smartphones.
An epoch... belonging to the man on stage. Years later, when recalling smartphones, people would not think of the first generation Apple device but of Qingyuan Technology and Tang Qing.
