CHAPTER 161: CREATING THE FIRST SMARTPHONE!

After three hours of intensive work, I finally had three functioning foundational machines: the precision etcher, the enchantment stabilizer, and the component assembler.

I stood back and surveyed my creations with satisfaction. These weren’t just tools - they were the beginning of an entirely new manufacturing capability that this world had never seen.

Now I could actually begin work on the smartphone itself.

I pulled out refined materials and began designing the first prototype, my hands moving with confidence as both blacksmithing skill and magical engineering knowledge worked in perfect harmony.

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With my foundational machines operational, I finally began work on the smartphone itself. The first component I tackled was the display - arguably the most complex element requiring both visual output and touch input functionality.

"Display matrix first," I muttered, using the precision etcher to inscribe microscopic mana circuits onto a thin sheet of specially treated crystal glass.

The concept was straightforward in theory: create a grid of tiny magical nodes that could individually activate to display images, similar to pixels on Earth screens. Each node needed its own circuit pathway, power connection, and control mechanism.

Etch... etch... etch...

The machine worked beautifully, creating thousands of infinitesimal circuit lines across the crystal surface. I configured it for a modest resolution - roughly equivalent to low range smartphone displays from Earth - knowing that starting too ambitious would guarantee failure.

Failure wasn’t the only reason why I started with low range displays. The second reason was advancement, I wanted to use the same strategy that the major brands on Earth used to constantly rope in money from their customers.

I would slowly increase the performance, display, camera and various other properties every quarter year.

Activate... test...

I channeled mana into the display circuits.

FLASH! OVERLOAD!

Brilliant light erupted from the crystal as every node activated simultaneously at maximum intensity, creating a blinding flare.

"Too much power distribution," I diagnosed immediately, examining the circuit design. "The nodes have no individual regulation."

The problem was clear.

I’d created pathways for power to reach each display node but hadn’t included logic gates to control when and how intensely each one activated. It was like wiring every light bulb in a building to a single switch with no dimmer controls.

I redesigned the circuit architecture, adding branching control pathways that would allow individual node addressing. This required significantly more complex etching patterns and took another twenty minutes to implement properly.

Second attempt... activate...

This time, individual nodes lit up when I mentally commanded them through the control interface. Success! Sort of.

The display showed images, but they were fuzzy and inconsistent. Some nodes glowed brighter than others despite receiving identical power inputs. The image quality looked like a badly degraded photograph.

"Inconsistent node construction," I realized, examining the crystal under magnification. The etching had created slight variations in node size and depth, causing uneven light output.

This required recalibrating the etcher’s depth control and using higher-grade crystal with more uniform properties. The material upgrade cost significant points, but precision demanded quality materials.

Third display attempt...

Clean, clear images! The nodes activated uniformly, creating recognizable shapes and text. I programmed simple test patterns - geometric shapes, gradients, basic text - and watched them render properly.

"Display functional," I confirmed with satisfaction.

Next came the input mechanism. Earth phones used capacitive touch screens that detected finger contact through electrical field disruption. I needed a magical equivalent.

I layered a thin enchantment matrix over the display that created a weak mana field. When something disrupted that field - like a finger touching the surface - the enchantment would register the location and translate it to input commands.

Test touch input...

I pressed my finger against the display.

Nothing happened.

"Field too weak," I muttered. I increased the mana flow to the touch-detection enchantment.

Test again...

This time my finger registered, but so did my entire hand, my sleeve, and apparently the air molecules near the screen. The sensitivity was cranked too high, creating phantom touches everywhere.

Finding the correct balance required tedious calibration. Too weak and it didn’t register genuine touches. Too strong and it registered everything. I spent thirty minutes adjusting the field strength incrementally until I found the sweet spot where deliberate finger contact registered reliably without false activations.

"Input functional," I confirmed after successful testing.

The communication component was next - the core functionality that would allow device-to-device contact. This drew heavily on communication crystal principles but required miniaturization and programming for selective connections.

I created a specialized mana circuit that could broadcast and receive on specific magical frequencies, similar to how communication crystals worked but with added addressing protocols. Each device would have a unique "signature" that could be called specifically.

Activate communication circuit... test...

I built two prototype phones to test the communication function between them.

Dial connection... static... interference... failure.

The devices couldn’t establish clean connections. Interference from their own internal circuits was drowning out the communication signals. It was like trying to have a conversation while standing next to a running jet engine.

"Shielding needed," I realized. The internal circuits were leaking mana noise that disrupted the communication frequencies.

I added isolation enchantments around the communication module, creating a magical "faraday cage" equivalent that prevented internal interference while still allowing external signal transmission.

Retest communication...

This time, clean connection! Audio transmitted clearly between devices with no latency. I could speak into one phone and hear my voice emerge from the other instantly.

"Communication functional!"

The power source proved surprisingly straightforward - a miniaturized version of the mana batteries used in larger magical devices, designed to recharge by absorbing ambient mana or through deliberate channeling. My blacksmithing experience with mana-conductive materials made this component relatively simple.

Storage matrices for data retention were adapted from memory enchantments used in magical libraries. I created arrays that could encode information as specific mana patterns, allowing photos, videos, and recorded audio to be saved and retrieved.

The camera function required creating light-capture enchantments that could record visual information. This was conceptually similar to how certain magical paintings captured scenes, but engineered for instant operation and digital-style storage.

Test photo capture...