Technology
Nothing’s first smartphone is aimed at Apple, not OnePlus
Nothing will launch its debut smartphone this summer time, its CEO and former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei introduced right this moment throughout a dwell stream. It’ll be known as the Telephone 1, run Android, and be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. And sure, it was this telephone that Carl Pei was photographed exhibiting Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon — albeit wrapped in a privacy-protecting case.
The Telephone 1 would be the firm’s second product following the discharge of its Ear 1 true wi-fi earbuds final 12 months. A brief teaser trailer launched right this moment means that the telephone may have a sequence of sunshine strips constructed into the again of the telephone, whereas a earlier report claimed it may characteristic clear design parts like the corporate’s earbuds.
However Nothing isn’t prepared to speak specs or worth. Throughout an interview with The Verge forward of right this moment’s occasion, Pei was even coy about what perform these gentle strips may serve within the remaining machine. Might we be a brand new tackle the notification gentle, which was as soon as a typical challenge throughout quite a few Blackberry and Android telephones, together with some from OnePlus?
“Possibly,” Pei teases with a smile.
However relating to software program, the CEO is extra forthcoming. At the moment, Nothing is releasing a sequence of pictures of Nothing OS, the Android pores and skin it plans to ship on the Telephone 1. The photographs don’t reveal a lot about what the software program would possibly be capable to do, however Pei is eager to emphasise its look, which very consciously traces up with the remainder of Nothing’s branding. The interface is a sea of black, white, and crimson that leans closely on the dotted font that Nothing makes use of for its brand.
Pei’s additionally very into the sound of the telephone, an space he thinks is commonly missed. “Our sound design is actually cool,” he says, “so undoubtedly examine that out.”
“Quite a lot of organizations have massive silos between totally different groups,” Pei says, explaining how the product workforce will usually work individually from the design workforce, who’ll be separate from the software program and advertising and marketing groups. Nothing, he says, needs to supply a “singular imaginative and prescient” throughout its units, which looks as if it might be a problem when the startup already has design groups working within the UK, Sweden, and China.
Nothing’s press launch says the Telephone 1’s Nothing OS will distill Android to “simply the necessities, the place each byte has a function.” Nevertheless, don’t anticipate the telephone to evoke the ghost of the Important Telephone, regardless that Nothing acquired the rights to the model early final 12 months. Pei tells me the acquisition was nearly buying its emblems again when “Nothing” may have been known as “Important.” In the long run, although, “we determined Nothing was most likely higher,” Pei says (cue the “higher than Nothing” jokes).
Nothing’s purpose, Pei says, is to create merchandise with a singularly centered design language throughout all the pieces from {hardware} to software program in order that there may by no means be any confusion about them coming from one other firm. It’s a tall order in a world of more and more indistinguishable smartphones. Pei cites Dyson’s designs as having the type of individuality he’d like Nothing to emulate — it’s no coincidence that Dyson’s former design head, Adam Bates, lately joined Nothing to function its design director.
“As a result of [Adam Bates] had a really senior position at Dyson, he’s capable of convey a whole lot of his outdated workforce with him,” Pei tells me. “So we most likely have top-of-the-line industrial design groups on the planet.” Bates is working alongside Teenage Engineering’s Jesper Kouthoofd and Tom Howard, who’re centered on the high-level route of Nothing’s design.
Whereas the look of the Telephone 1’s Nothing OS is clearly a precedence, what’s extra essential to the corporate is what the machine represents: a vital step in Nothing’s try to construct out an ecosystem of interconnected units. The technique isn’t new — Pei talked about it when launching the corporate final 12 months — however with the disclosing of the smartphone, the ecosystem now has a central machine to anchor itself to.
The purpose right here is much less about competing with different Android telephones like these Pei launched when he was a part of OnePlus. As an alternative, his want is to compete with Apple and the broad ecosystem also known as its “walled backyard.” Pei particularly cites Apple’s spectacular Common Management because the type of characteristic he’d wish to see Nothing’s merchandise ultimately be able to, referencing the WWDC 2021 keynote during which Apple demonstrated dragging and dropping a photograph from an iPad onto an iMac utilizing a 3rd, separate, MacBook — all utterly wirelessly and with none prior configuration.
Much like Apple, whose ecosystem mixes first-party units like telephones, laptops, and true wi-fi earbuds with third-party merchandise by way of platforms like HomeKit, Nothing plans to supply a few of these units itself whereas counting on integrations with companions to bulk out its ecosystem. So, Nothing needs its telephone to seamlessly management its Nothing-branded earbuds whereas additionally with the ability to management different merchandise like a Tesla automotive or Apple’s AirPods.
Competing with an ecosystem from an organization value greater than $2 trillion, although, gained’t be straightforward. For starters, Nothing doesn’t personal practically as a lot of its personal know-how stack as Apple. A characteristic like Common Management is hard sufficient for a corporation that controls all of the items to drag off, not to mention a startup like Nothing that’s constructing on prime of one other firm’s working system.
Pei doesn’t have a transparent reply for me about how Nothing plans to drag these types of ecosystem integrations off, however he thinks the corporate has one thing to lure different corporations in.
“I feel we have now a a lot simpler time convincing companions as a result of we assist them do a whole lot of the work that they will’t do themselves,” Pei says. In impact, he sees Nothing as someday performing virtually as exterior client tech consultants to corporations trying to launch new merchandise, serving to out with all the pieces from design to provide chains and engineering. “That is an end-to-end functionality that we’re infusing our companions with.”
The CEO stops wanting saying Nothing will produce white-label merchandise for different corporations to promote (“I feel we’re going to be very adamant about fairness possession,” he says once I ask). But when, say, a legacy sports activities model needed to get into releasing wearables, then Pei needs Nothing to be the corporate they may flip to for assist. It sounds rather a lot just like the strategy that Chinese language tech big Xiaomi has pioneered, which has seen it mix parts of company enterprise capital investing with an ecosystem strategy to rising its formidable firm.
Controlling a complete ecosystem can have its downsides, like the buyer lock-in that comes with Apple’s notorious walled backyard. One of many good issues about an organization that solely produces headphones is that it’s motivated to make its equipment work with all the pieces. However that may change when you abruptly begin producing each telephones and earbuds. “[Nothing earbuds] will work higher with the Nothing smartphone as a result of it’s built-in on the system degree and never simply the app degree,” Pei tells me.
Launching a smartphone is one factor, however trying to construct a complete tech ecosystem to compete with the likes of Apple is an excellent taller order for a corporation that’s solely launched one product thus far — particularly when that product, the Ear 1 earbuds, had some tough edges at launch. However though Pei has massive ambitions for Nothing, within the extra instant future, he says the corporate is taking issues one step at a time. Which means the following step is a very powerful one among all: truly launching the Telephone 1.