Nothing has confirmed that his first event for 2022 will take place on March 23. Entitled ‘The Truth’, this may be where the firm announces its first smartphone.
The company, founded by OnePlus’ Carl Pei, has only launched a pair of wireless earbuds so far, but we’ll soon find out what’s in store for us this year. With Pei’s background in the phone industry, speculation of a Nothing phone has been around since the beginning.
The timing is interesting, not least because a photo showing what we can confirm is Pei in the VIP area of Qualcomm’s booth at MWC (Mobile World Congress) was posted on Twitter by @evleaks just two days ago.
Nothing to see here. pic.twitter.com/mzLeTVHSXm
— Ev (@evleaks)
March 7, 2022
It looks like Qualcomm CEO Christiano Amon is showing Pei a black phone, possibly a prototype or reference design.
Sadly, there’s not much else to be gained from the image, but Nothing reiterated that it’s working to create “new product categories in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies and its Snapdragon platform”. .
The Snapdragon platform, however, powers many other devices, including smartwatches, tablets, and more. A phone, however, seems most likely because, after all, it’s been over a year since the company acquired the brand behind the Essential Phone.
Following the Nothing ear (1) wireless headphones naming system, the smartphone could be called the Nothing (1) phone.
There’s not much to be gained from the above event invite, beyond ‘C The Truth’ being a play on the phrase ‘seeing the truth’ and the texture that forms the fabric-like background of its right side. This could perhaps be used on the back of a device or for a case.
The main thing we know about The Truth event is that Nothing will be looking for a second round of community investment. The first round – just over a year ago – reached the $1.5 million goal extremely quickly, setting a record $1 million raised and leaving many would-be investors disappointed, having missed out.
This time around it should be a little easier, with a much bigger goal of $70 million. As well as “new product categories”, the money will be used to establish the company’s planned London Design Hub, led by former Dyson design chief Adam Bates.
“With this round of funding, we have the fuel to realize the next phase of our vision of a seamless digital future,” said Carl Pei.
While the event could be investment-focused, Pei and his team could reveal what kinds of devices will be included in his “seamlessly connected series of products.”
You might be interested in what Pei said about Apple’s past and present framing Nothing’s future at MWC this year as well.
