Chapter 109: Communication Module
Two weeks later.
I took a break and visited the design room again.
As I opened the door and entered,
I saw Heesoo constantly moving the stylus in front of the monitor.
She seemed extremely focused.
She didn’t even notice me approaching.
“Uh, Heesoo…”
“Ah!”
Startled by my voice, Heesoo turned her head.
“CEO! When did you arrive?”
“Haha, I just got here. You were so focused that you didn’t even notice me coming in.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Heesoo bowed her head with an apologetic look.
“It’s me who should apologize for dropping by without notice. So, how’s the progress?”
I tried to appear relaxed,
but honestly, I was anxious.
A-Sung’s ‘Ace-Premium’ was selling better than expected,
and Pintech’s deficit was growing day by day.
To turn this situation around, we needed to launch the smartphone as soon as possible.
And the key to that was Heesoo.
“Actually, I just finished it. Would you like to take a look?”
I nodded,
and Heesoo flipped through the screens on the monitor to explain her sketches to me.
“I refined the curved edge lines of the mockup phone you gave me to make them smoother. For the front, I eliminated the camera hole and designed it to hide the sensors in the top bezel.”
“The front is now a full-screen design, too?”
I had created the mockup by recalling memories from my regression,
but the details were vastly different from what Heesoo had done.
Smooth edges without a single unnecessary bend.
Even the back curve felt comfortable when held in the hand.
In my opinion, it couldn’t be more perfect.
Except for one thing.
“But what about the camera design? The back looks quite simple…?”
“I haven’t decided on that part yet. Nowadays, it’s common to place it on the top-left corner. But I wanted to try something different.”
Most recently released phones had the camera installed on the top-left corner of the back,
and the A-Phone was no exception.
“So, where do you want to place the camera, Heesoo?”
“I’m thinking of placing the camera in the center-top of the back and the flash next to it. This way, it feels more balanced.”
Heesoo used the stylus to add the camera and flash to the empty space.
“Like this.”
“Oh, that looks great.”
For dual or triple cameras, side placement would be fine,
but for a single camera like this, center placement felt much more stable.
“And I’ve also come up with a special color concept called ‘Aurora Black.’ It’s a color that shifts between green and purple depending on the lighting. If we use real glass, women will love it.”
“Is this… perhaps Heesoo’s personal preference?”
Heesoo answered with a slightly flustered look at my question.
“Honestly, it’s also my preference, but I’m confident other women will like it, too.”
Heesoo showed me the sample color chips on the table.
When I shone a light on them, the colors indeed shifted subtly depending on the angle.
In my opinion, it was a sufficiently attractive color.
‘…This isn’t a color that could come out at this point in time.’
Heesoo had created a color that would typically emerge after countless trials and errors, and she had done it sitting at her desk.
At the same time, an advertisement flashed through my mind.
A smooth silhouette, curves that fit in one hand.
Mysterious colors that change with the light.
It felt more like a ‘work of art’ than a simple ‘product.’
“But is this design actually feasible?”
“I discussed it with Senior Researcher Hwang Chilbong, and he said it should be possible.”
I nodded at the mention of ‘Hwang Chilbong.’
Recognizing his contributions to the previous patent analysis,
I had promoted him from staff to senior researcher,
and simultaneously appointed him as the Project Leader (PL) for smartphone development, alongside Human Technology personnel.
“If Chilbong says it’s possible, he’ll make it happen.”
“You seem to trust Senior Hwang a lot.”
It was more than trust.
He was a talent who would lead Dojin Group’s development room in the future,
and I had already experienced his abilities firsthand before the regression.
“Leave the product development to Chilbong, and Heesoo, focus only on the design.”
For creating a single product,
close collaboration between developers and designers is crucial.
But since both were people I trusted,
there wasn’t much to worry about.
“Then, let’s finalize this design and proceed with the mockup.”
“Looking forward to it.”
…
…
…
A few days later,
people began to gather around a black case placed in a corner of the design room.
“Hehe, is it finally out?”
Hong Chung-ki asked excitedly,
and as those present held their breath and watched,
I took a deep breath
and lifted the lid of the case.
At that moment,
the aurora light spreading softly over the glossy black was revealed.
“Wow, amazing.”
“It’s so pretty.”
“…Is this really the phone we made?”
Seong-hwan, along with Lee Hye-ryeong and Oh Seong-hak, exclaimed in unison.
“This is… it doesn’t seem like something from this world.”
“It feels like a whole different class from feature phones.”
Their continuous admiration made me smile involuntarily.
‘If the mockup alone gets this reaction, what will the reaction be to the actual product?’
Heesoo, who designed the product, added further explanation.
“In addition to the color you’re seeing now, we also plan to release ‘Moonlight White’ and ‘Cosmic Blue.’”
Both colors change tone with lighting, providing consistency while allowing choices based on gender and age preferences.
“Good idea.”
I responded in agreement and looked at Lee Hye-ryeong.
“How far along is the mass production preparation?”
“The housing mold has already been completed, and the motherboard design is also finished to match the mass production line. We’re also conducting OS installation and UI testing concurrently… so we should be able to release a mass production (MP) verification build by early next month.”
This time, Han Yu-ju stepped forward.
“Lunar is also in the final stages, tailored to Team Leader Jang Hee-soo’s UI design.”
“The response speed is faster than expected, and the internal test results are quite satisfactory.”
At Hong Jin-man’s words, I nodded.
“Alright. Before mass production, thoroughly check the design, performance, and battery efficiency. And send the specs to marketing by today.”
Recently, the marketing team of Pintech & Curetech, which we acquired, will be in charge of promoting this smartphone.
“I’ll send it right away so they can start planning the video shoot and advertising copy.”
Everyone returned to their seats,
and finally, the smartphone I had been preparing for so long was becoming a reality.
“Hyung, when are you going to decide on the smartphone’s name?”
Seong-hwan asked me as I looked out the window.
I slowly turned and replied,
“Quantum! That’s the name of the smartphone we’re launching.”
“Quantum? You mean the quantum from physics?”
“That’s right.”
In physics, ‘quantum’ refers to the smallest indivisible unit of energy,
but the meaning I assigned to it was more philosophical and symbolic.
‘Fundamental change,’ ‘a leap to a completely different dimension.’
“But why did you choose Quantum?”
“You’ve heard of quantum leap, right?”
“You mean like small changes accumulating to create a leap to a completely different level?”
I smiled and nodded at Seong-hwan’s words.
“That’s exactly what our smartphone is. It’s not just a transition from feature phones to smartphones, but an attempt to ‘leap’ under the name of Dojin.”
“Oh, now that you mention it, it sounds good. It has impact and meaning. Quantum… Quantum (QUANTUM)…”
Seong-hwan muttered ‘Quantum’ several times and nodded.
Heesoo, listening beside him, also understood the meaning and exclaimed,
“Quantum… I really like it, too.”
In fact, Quantum also symbolizes small but powerful changes.
Internally, it was the first smartphone to embrace Lunar,
and externally, it represented a massive wave that could shake the market.
“So, is all that’s left is to launch the smartphone?”
The design was complete,
the mass production preparation was done,
and even the name was decided.
All that remained was to introduce my smartphone to the world.
‘Once Quantum is released, we can instantly surpass Ace-Premium’s sales.’
Then,
the problems of the mobile division, which was struggling with deficits, could be neatly resolved.
But…
“CEO, we have a problem!”
A week later,
Chilbong came to me with an urgent look.
“What’s wrong?”
“During mass production preparation for the initial Quantum lot, an issue arose with the communication module not functioning properly.”
“Communication module?”
“At first, I thought it was a simple connection error, but after repeated tests, it turned out to be a complete communication cutoff under specific conditions.”
As soon as I heard the explanation,
I realized the situation was serious.
It was a defect related to I2C, the hardest to pinpoint.
“What’s the cause?”
“Well… we haven’t found it yet.”
As expected, Chilbong also couldn’t identify the cause.
The essence of a smartphone is its phone and communication functions.
So, a smartphone without communication, no matter how high its performance,
is nothing but a ‘defective product.’
“Did you share this with Dojin Soft?”
“Yes, Team Leader Han Yu-ju is currently analyzing whether it’s an OS issue or a hardware issue.”
“What do you think? Where do you think the problem lies?”
Since Chilbong had seen the most of Quantum and even participated in its design,
I thought he could make an educated guess.
Chilbong took a moment to catch his breath and then spoke,
“…There might be slight interference in the RFPCB circuit design, or considering that the issue only occurs in some devices, it could be due to manufacturing process variations or interference between the metal housing and the antenna.”
I frowned at Chilbong’s words.
The cause was too broad.
“You know it’s impossible to analyze all that before the product launch, right?”
It meant we couldn’t keep our promise to customers from the first shipment lot.
Moreover, the bigger issue was that the unpack event scheduled for two weeks later could be disrupted.
“Who did the circuit design?”
“HumanTech personnel and our RF engineers worked on it together. But the simulation results showed no abnormalities.”
“Since the issue only occurs at specific angles or positions, it wouldn’t show up in simulations.”
I closed my eyes for a moment.
Before the regression, I had encountered similar errors countless times
and had paid astronomical ‘tuition fees’ (in the form of defective disposal costs) to resolve them.
Recalling those memories, I slowly raised my head.
And I spoke firmly,
“Bring me the communication module PCB schematics and component layouts. Right now!!”