Chat with the head of millet router

Absrtact: Rice's co-founder, vice President Huangjiangi 2010, a café in Beijing Spring Road, Huangjiangi first met Lei. After the 4.5-hour meeting, Huangjiangi determined to leave Microsoft and become the co-founder and deputy of Millet

Rice's co-founder, vice President Huangjiangi

Huangjiangi first met Lei in a café in Beijing's Spring Road in 2010. After the 4.5-hour meeting, Huangjiangi determined to leave Microsoft and become the co-founder and vice president of Millet.

Over the past few years, often known as KK's Huangjiangi, has been responsible for rice chat, small Mi Yun and other business development. And since last year, the American Purdue University graduates have a new task-millet router, which is also the first Huangjiangi-led hardware products. After the business adjustment, Huangjiangi's work focus has completely shifted to the millet router.

Last December 19, the first round of the Millet router test, followed by the beginning of January this year's second round of the test; last week, the third round of the millet router opened. At this point the millet router has become the Millet hardware product sequence, the public test cycle of the most products. This carries the intelligent home the future product, why has this kind of advancement rhythm? Sina technology with doubt found the leading production of millet router Huangjiangi.

From cool to practical

Huangjiangi, who has worked at Microsoft for nearly 13 years, has long since felt a picture of what a family intelligence life is like in Bill Gates. "It's really cool when you see that he can control his home TV, fridge and other appliances through a computer," Huangjiangi recalls. This feeling was Huangjiangi into the millet router.

Huangjiangi said that the new concept of hardware products must be the first to make the product fun and cool, to give users an unprecedented experience, and some of the use of functional improvements are certainly in the follow-up product iteration process completed.

Traditional routers have more tool properties, in the completion of the connection outside the network, set up WiFi, the user is basically abandoned to a corner, in addition to the network disconnection, it is difficult to be remembered by the user.

But with the development of mobile Internet, the mobile terminal products that can access the network are increasing. Apart from the mobile phone, the router is another device that can achieve 24 hours online. When a router is capable of computing, it can create a new experience with different mobile terminals. For example, when a mobile phone is connected to a router, the router can issue specific work instructions to other devices.

"The core of this idea is cool, fun." Imagine, once you get home, the lights will automatically open, curtains will automatically pull off, this is a very cool thing. "Huangjiangi that a new type of hardware equipment, Internet products or new functional appliances, all need an" education user "process, to attract users to use their services, eventually forming a high frequency of use habits.

So from the first version of the public test so far, millet router has been trying to give users the impression of fun. For example, the user who gets the millet router needs to assemble the device like Lego blocks.

But this does not mean that new hardware products can "kill the Quartet" only by gimmicks. Huangjiangi said, fun and cool just this kind of product breakthrough, the follow-up in the practical aspects of the functional improvement will follow, today's Internet products are based on user feedback to constantly improve, only let the products attract more users, to dig out more practical functions.

Huangjiangi said, under the guidance of this kind of thinking, on the one hand to explore the user in the process of excitement, on the other hand to avoid in the improvement or access to services, the product tends to the traditional router function optimization direction.

Kill a chicken with a sledgehammer

In Huangjiangi eyes, the millet router should be such a product: First of all, it should be a very good router, the market on the traditional router features it can have, to complete the user's basic needs.

Second, it should be the home data center, the user's private cloud, let it become the Internet public cloud of the local accelerator, but also will become the millet cloud scattered in each household cloud server.

Finally, it should be the home Intelligence center, since it is the family in addition to the mobile phone in another 24-hour online device, routers should have the ability to compute, can have a stand-alone operating system, can install the app, and other third-party devices to interact with data.

Huangjiangi that the router should be a bridge between users and other household appliances, and to do these things well, the existing resources are obviously not enough. Millet needs more professional talent and better quality third-party equipment and service providers to support.

So at the beginning of the millet router set up the idea of "kill the chicken with a sledgehammer". At present, the millet router is already a large team of 70 engineers, most of them not from the traditional home router company, but from the enterprise-level router research and development team. Despite this, there are still some problems with the public measuring the millet router.

Huangjiangi to Sina Technology, the future family life, can connect with the router will be more and more equipment, traditional routers difficult to provide good support in this case, including how to interact with non-computer, mobile devices, these issues require more senior experts to solve.

In the millet outline of the router ecosystem, home appliances is also an important link. The feedback quality of these appliances to the router instruction directly affects the reputation of the millet router.

Huangjiangi said, currently on the market to do smart home appliances or smart home mainstream manufacturers, millet are in contact with them, due to the reasons for the process of cooperation, can not disclose the specific companies. It is understood that millet has been with 3 third-party companies to reach a cooperation, mainly related to intelligent home and intelligent consumer electronics products.

Products to read users

Millet Router public beta in mid-December last year officially sold, a symbolic fee of 1 yuan, but the first batch of only 500 units. In January this year, the second round was still only 500, but more than 630,000 users made an appointment.

Recently, the third round of public testing began to start, millet for the future of this product thinking more clearly. In addition to the first two rounds of iconic wooden boxes and DIY parts, but also a triangular thing, it is Broadlink launched the Infrared Intelligent remote control, this device allows the millet route has an infrared emission port, with home appliances through infrared connection, the function has been further extended.

Why are third-party devices introduced? On the one hand, directly in the millet router to add infrared function, will be the original WiFi transmission caused interference; But more importantly, infrared is not an old technology worth betting on.

Huangjiangi pointed out that millet does not want the user's mobile phone to become the core of home equipment remote control, but hope that the millet router in different scenarios to read the user's needs, users do not intervene in the case of the completion of the control of home appliances equipment.

Millet currently has mobile phones, televisions, boxes these terminals, coupled with the support of Third-party home appliances and MIUI software services, can let the whole ecosystem of millet in the router formed a closed loop. For example: MIUI weather forecast function, can be at high temperature through the millet router trigger scene mode, thus automatically open the room air-conditioning.

This idea in the public testing stage by the user's extensive response, Huangjiangi said, the user's experience feedback exceeded expectations, many millet did not think of the function in the user's use of the process has been developed. He revealed that about 30% of user feedback has finally been implemented to improve the function of the millet router.

According to the introduction, the third edition of the Millet router and the first edition, there will be a hardware upgrade, mainly related to home appliances and other intelligent home. According to the current progress, the third version of the millet router in the hardware has been basic stereotypes, the software needs to continue to improve, but the two quarter of this product must have been officially released.

"You will feel very excited about the real landing of intelligent life," said Huangjiangi, who now has the technology of smart devices and appliances to support a closed-loop system of intelligent living, "The intelligent life that Bill Gates had demonstrated 20 years ago is not far from us."