Chapter 57: Hacker Invasion

The disturbance on the stage quieted down once again, and everyone turned their attention to Zhao Min. They all knew that the information that followed would be very important.

After all, not everyone dared to point out their own product’s flaws during a launch event.

Zhao Min remained calm and composed as she clicked to the next slide of the PPT.

“There is no flawless product in the world, and even the Smart Assistant is no exception. The first issue is compatibility. Currently, on mobile systems, it is only compatible with the Army Ant System and the Android System. It does not support the Apple System, meaning there is no iOS app.”

Zhao Min’s words were like a small stone dropping into a calm pond, immediately stirring ripples. Not being compatible with iOS was undoubtedly a big problem. In the current mainstream market, Apple iPhone held a significant share. Was this move intended to crush Apple?

If the functions described earlier were true and it didn’t support iOS, then people would definitely not prioritize buying Apple iPhones in the future. The blow to Apple would be immense.

Why wasn’t it compatible with Apple?

This question involuntarily popped into the minds of those who heard it.

Zhao Min seemed to know what everyone was thinking and continued her speech.

“For the Smart Assistant to control a phone, it cannot bypass the phone’s operating system. The Android System is open-source and can support Xiao Die. The Apple System is closed-source, so the Smart Assistant cannot automatically control app states. Additionally, since iOS already has Siri and doesn’t need the Smart Assistant at all, there is no iOS app.”

After hearing Zhao Min’s words, everyone fell silent. The Smart Assistant was so powerful that it was no match for Siri.

But many people didn’t mind because they didn’t use Apple iPhones, and quite a few had two phones, so this issue didn’t concern them.

“I can almost see Apple trembling in fear.”

“This is still just a small ant; it can’t finish a whole apple.”

“I have two phones; no matter how you release it, if I can’t use it, I’ll admit defeat. So satisfying…”

“Actually, I’m concerned about the price of this Smart Assistant. If it’s free, Apple would really be in trouble.”

After Zhao Min mentioned the lack of an iOS app, the live chat section exploded with discussions.

On stage, Zhao Min still wore a confident smile.

“Next is its second issue. Xiao Die has just taken shape, and for now, it can only interact in Chinese and English. We are working hard to import multilingual databases. In the future, Xiao Die will cover the world’s major languages.”

Not many people were surprised by this issue, and even those who had opinions didn’t know about the Army Ant Smart Assistant yet. For the time being, the main market for the Smart Assistant was still domestic.

“Lastly, there’s the matter of Xiao Die’s pricing, which is the topic everyone is most concerned about. Currently, the price for Xiao Die is 20 yuan per month, with the first ten minutes free for trial,” Zhao Min said.

When Zhao Min announced the price of 20 yuan per month, there was a slight stir in the audience, especially in the area where the media representatives were seated.

As a Smart Assistant, based on the functions Zhao Min described, its capabilities far exceeded those of similar software on the market. A monthly fee of 20 yuan wasn’t expensive. It was almost like upgrading one’s phone for just 20 yuan, and this fee was affordable for almost anyone who owned a phone.

But the key point was that such a high-end Smart Assistant was nearly non-existent in the market. How many Android phones were there globally? No one knew the exact number. Even if only one-twentieth of Android users adopted it, the profits would be staggering.

The Smart Assistant was almost like a goose that laid golden eggs, bringing continuous funds to the Legion Ant Company.

After Zhao Min’s speech, the next part was the Q&A session with reporters. Fans and audience members also entered the product experience area to start downloading and trying out the Smart Assistant.

The experience area displayed the Legion Ant Company’s futuristic concept products, including intelligent office software, computer operating systems, intelligent robots, Ant Cloud Computing, big data, and more.

However, these technologies were still in their early stages at the Legion Ant Company, or not even that developed yet. So, most fans and reporters headed to the Smart Assistant experience area to download and try it out.

Even before the launch event officially ended, online reports had already caused a huge stir.

Many people who tried the Smart Assistant in the experience area posted videos in their Moments, attracting both admiration and skepticism. Soon, videos of the Smart Assistant experience were uploaded online, drawing many onlookers.

The Legion Ant Company and the Smart Assistant Xiao Die quickly climbed the trending charts.

A small Smart Assistant had almost elevated the entire smartphone experience by a level, making it hard not to attract attention.

As soon as the Legion Ant launch event concluded, the internet was flooded with news, entering a bombardment mode.

In this era, anything related to Artificial Intelligence, or even just touching upon it, became a hot topic. Now, the Legion Ant Company had unexpectedly launched a Smart Assistant with functions more powerful than Apple’s Siri, overtaking the competition in a surprising move that felt even cooler.

“An Army Ant Emerging from the Nest” — People’s Daily

“How Far Are We from Artificial Intelligence?” — Global Times

“Hello! Humanity.” — Squirrel Headlines

…

All major domestic media outlets published in-depth articles and commentaries about the Legion Ant Company’s Smart Assistant. Artificial Intelligence once again became a hot topic of discussion.

“Why doesn’t the Legion Ant Company embed the Smart Assistant into their next-generation phones?”

“Right now, the Legion Ant Company just wants to open up the market, enhance user experience, and simultaneously test and collect data to improve the database. In the future, they will take down the Smart Assistant and embed it into their second-generation phone. The high-end phone market is almost wide open for them.”

“This is so awesome! I came back from the launch event, downloaded the Smart Assistant, and now I’m snacking with both hands while watching a drama and posting comments. Hahaha…”

After the launch event, the internet was in an uproar, and the Legion Ant Company was anything but calm. Zhao Min stood in the technical backend, quietly watching the technicians operate the computers.

She had rushed back to the company immediately after leaving the theater. The news was already out and still spreading. The real test was yet to come, and launching the Smart Assistant was the top priority.

She had seen the online reactions, and as expected, the response to the Smart Assistant was even greater than that to the Army Ant System. Besides the extensive media coverage, it was also because of Artificial Intelligence.

The mobile operating system market was already saturated, so when the Army Ant System was released, it caused some waves. However, because it wasn’t open-source and considering the Legion Ant Company’s capabilities, it couldn’t shake the dominance of the three major operating systems.

Now, things were different. The mobile Smart Assistant market was almost entirely blank. This market was laid out perfectly before them, and the potential profits were unimaginable.

“President, the number of visitors has exceeded one million,” said the backend technician sitting in front of the computer.

“Is the server okay?” Zhao Min asked.

“After the last attack incident, we upgraded and expanded the server. It can handle a million simultaneous visits without any problem,” Old Luo replied.

“Launch Xiao Die,” Zhao Min said.

The entire company was tense. Chen Mo also sat in his office, quietly watching the backend page of the official website, lost in thought. After the Smart Assistant was launched, Chen Mo’s gaze sharpened.

“Brother Mo, a Hacker is trying to break into the company’s server,” Ink Girl spoke up not long after the Smart Assistant was launched.