163: The era of full-screen displays has arrived!

In May, the weather in the Beijing began to turn hot, and Zhao Zhijie's words lingered in Chen Chen's mind, making him somewhat irritable.

Time, he needed time.

Both the semiconductor industry and the display industry required a lot of time for development.

However, May also brought a lot of good news.

Breakthrough progress was made in Robotic Arm technology. Under Dr. Zhou's suggestion, Lu Weibing used some of the information to “lure” a professor from Harbin Institute of Technology.

With the addition of a professional expert, the project's progress became much faster, and there were some initial ideas for the application of this Robotic Arm.

Firstly, in automated production, the flexible Robotic Arm offered better precision. Red Star now had the full capability to build a high-end unmanned factory in the Beijing.

Secondly, in bionic prosthetics, this Robotic Arm could fully enter the medical device category as long as the interface issue was resolved.

However, Chen Chen did not intend to apply it in this area, because the medical device industry was too deep and complex. Without protection, entering this industry with such prosthetic technology would lead to being devoured without even bones left.

It wouldn't even require the USA to act.

The final application was proposed by Professor Tang from Harbin Institute of Technology, which was easily understood considering Professor Tang's background.

Harbin Institute of Technology, as everyone knows.

Everything they developed, without exception, served the nation's defense.

So, mechanical exoskeletons also seemed like a good direction.

The second piece of good news was brought by Cui Yichen.

After two and a half years of development, Red Star's Full-Screen Display first batch of engineering prototypes officially rolled off the production line!

In the dust-free workshop, Chen Chen watched through the glass as assembly workers on the assembly line put together Red Star Company's first Full-Screen Display concept phone.

The screen of this concept phone was the second batch of screens sent by LG, and this batch consisted of LG's latest flexible OLED screens.

Of course, the price was also a bit higher.

Only such flexible screens could use the most advanced COP Packaging. If the screen material did not have sufficient toughness, its touch and driver chips could not be folded and placed on the back of the screen.

And now, acquiring flexible screens at a higher price allowed the chin of this concept phone to be reduced to 3.2 millimeters.

Although it might seem insufficient compared to many products of later generations.

But one must remember, this was 2014!

In this era, this was a product of epoch-making significance!

"CEO Chen, is this the true Full-Screen Display?!"

"It's simply too beautiful!"

Yang Tuo, standing nearby, looked at the engineering prototype, which had just been taken out of the workshop and had not even undergone a series of tests, and said excitedly.

The first truly Full-Screen Display concept phone in the history of mobile phone technology development had finally appeared in reality.

As the first Full-Screen Display concept phone rolled off the production line, none of Red Star's senior executives wanted to miss such an important and exciting moment. Not only did Chen Chen personally come to the Langcheng Factory, but Product Manager Cui Yichen, Red Star President Lu Weiqi, Marketing President Yang Tuo, and System Department Manager Zhao Zhijie also came to the factory to welcome the first truly Full-Screen Display phone.

Chen Chen caressed the smooth phone, finally pressing the power button to light up the screen.

Watching the entire front screen light up, Cui Yichen's eyes turned red. As the Product Manager of this phone, no one had put in more effort than him.

From customized components from suppliers, internal stacking, to assembly processes, Cui Yichen felt that after completing this phone, he could navigate the entire supply chain of the mobile phone business.

"Full-Screen Display concept phone, Xiao Cui, your hard work has not been in vain. You have left a significant mark in the history of mobile phone development!" Chen Chen said, looking at the lit screen and patting Cui Yichen, whose eyes were slightly red.

"The phone's bezel control is also good. I see that the back cover doesn't seem to be glued on?" Lu Weiqi took the engineering prototype from Chen Chen's hand, turned it over and looked at it for a while before saying.

"Yes, CEO Lu, our Microcrystalline Nano-Zirconia Ceramic is very hard, and it's difficult to connect the body, frame, and back cover using traditional adhesive methods."

"Our Engineers drew inspiration from traditional Chinese craftsmanship and adopted a glue-free Mortise and Tenon Joint Process. The entire back cover and the phone's middle frame are connected using mortise and tenon joints, making it very secure," Cui Yichen said, having composed himself.

After solving the sintering process of microcrystalline nano-zirconia, the factory masters found that the middle frame and back cover simply couldn't be glued together, or more accurately, they were very prone to coming loose.

They tried many different adhesive processes but couldn't bond the two well. During that period, Cui Yichen was so frustrated that he almost gave up on the ceramic middle frame and considered using aluminum alloy or stainless steel.

This problem was eventually solved by an old master in the factory, who said, "If you can't glue them, then don't glue them. Just use mortise and tenon joints, isn't that enough?"

Hearing Cui Yichen mention the Mortise and Tenon Joint Process, Yang Tuo frowned and asked, "Doesn't that mean this phone can't be repaired? After all, with mortise and tenon joints, our body and back cover can't be removed, and ceramic is so brittle that forcibly disassembling it could easily break the body or back cover."

Normal disassembly for repair of android phones usually involves removing the back cover to access the motherboard for repairs. If the back cover cannot be removed, does that mean either it has to be disassembled from the front, or it cannot be repaired at all?

Cui Yichen blushed. He had thought of this long ago, but CEO Chen said to proceed this way for now, and for repairs, either disassemble the screen or simply not repair it.

"Manager Cui's design plan is to disassemble from the front panel, remove the screen, and then repair the internal components. However, the repair cost for this phone is indeed very high."

"My suggestion is to directly replace it instead of repairing it. This way, we can also gain some reputation. High-end phones should look like high-end phones."

Chen Chen answered Yang Tuo's question for Cui Yichen. After all, he was the one who insisted on using ceramic craftsmanship, and the Mortise and Tenon Structure was currently the optimal solution.

"The front camera extends quite quickly. I feel it's ready in about a second."

"The feel of this ceramic material is absolutely fantastic, like caressing a piece of jade."

"Xiao Zhao, you must expedite the system adaptation. This is our flagship model for this year, so don't let anything go wrong with the system." Lu Weiqi played with the phone for a while and then returned it to Chen Chen.

"Come, let's take a photo, using this Full-Screen Display concept phone, to commemorate this moment." Chen Chen suggested, holding up the phone.

The boss had spoken, who would disagree?

So, several people gathered around Chen Chen, who held up the phone, opened the front camera, and took a group photo.

"3! 2! 1!"

"Full-Screen Display, here we come!"

Later, this photo also widely circulated on the Internet. Many people said that from this group photo, Red Star opened up another path for mobile phone form factors. This engineering prototype, numbered 0001, was also permanently collected by Chen Chen.