Gancube

GANcube

Industry	Technology
Founded	2014
Founder	Jiang Ganyuan
Headquarters	Guangzhou, China
Products	Speed cubes
Website	https://www.gancube.com/

GANcube, or GAN, is a brand that produces high-quality Rubik's cubes for speedcubing. Guangzhou Ganyuan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. is the parent company for GANcube and other brands, like Monster Go and Swift Block; based in Guangzhou, China. GAN was founded in 2014 in Guangzhou, China by Jiang Ganyuan. GANcube is recognized by enthusiasts as the "Apple of Speedcubes".

History

Jiang Ganyuan's interest in Rubik's cubes began in 1998 while studying Civil Engineering at Tongji University; he received one as a gift from his father. A few days later, he was able to solve it using an English manual.

In 2006, Ganyuan became China's first national champion in a speedcubing competition. A few years later, he became the cofounder of GuoJia, the first non-Rubik's DIY brand of cubes. However, due to unknown reasons, the company closed down.

In 2014, he founded the Guangzhou Ganyuan Intelligent Technology Company. And started the GANcube brand, that would specialize in producing speed cubes.

Technology

Magnetization evolution

In 2016, GANcube was the first to mass produce a speed cube with magnets in their edge and corner pieces to improve stability and make it faster. As the years passed, they kept improving this system to make it more durable and efficient. Ultimately, being able to change the strength of the magnets depending on the user.

In 2020, they introduced the Omnidirectional Core Positioning Magnetic Technology, which included magnets not only in the corner and edge pieces, but also in the core. The core connects with magnets to the corner pieces, further improving stability.

In 2021, GANcube released the GAN12 MagLev cube, which was the first to use the Magnetic Levitation Technology (MagLev). Maglev allowed the core and center pieces to both push and pull each other during turns. The MagLev innovation reduced friction and mechanical stress on the cube, by repelling layers while turning and pulling them when aligned.

Smart cubes

GAN launched the GAN356 i Bluetooth, their first smart cube, in 2018, and has launched many others since, such as the GAN 12ui, which has MagLev, and the GAN 12ui FreePlay, with no MagLev.

This series of smart cubes can be connected through Bluetooth to the Cube Station app. Thanks to different sensors, the Cube Station app keeps track of the real-time movements of the cube, which can display solve statistics, such as turns per second, rotations, and move count. This feedback can be really helpful for those who try to improve their techniques.

Through the app, interactive tutorials to learn how to solve the cube are offered. In these tutorials, difficult steps are divided into simple steps to make the fundamentals more approachable for beginners.

Controversy

According to the Tech Media Platform KrASIA, GANcube has faced allegations of counterfeiting, plagiarism, and IP violations.

Cornelius Dieckmann is a German speedcuber that was sponsored by GANcube. His contract was terminated by GAN in 2019. GAN did not give the specific reason for this termination; however, it happened after he posted his political opinion on the relation between China and Taiwan on Facebook.