Nothing will focus on developing a more AI-centric phone, and move away from the traditional app-centric smartphone experience that we have come to know. In order to do this, CEO Carl Pei is willing to skip launching the Phone (3) this year, pushing it to 2025
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Nothing CEO Carl Pei has announced that the highly anticipated Nothing Phone (3) will not be released this year as initially planned. Instead, the launch has been postponed until 2025.
The decision to delay the release is driven by the company’s desire to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into the phone, aiming to create what Pei describes as a “post-app world” experience.
In a video message, Pei acknowledged the unusual delay and explained that Nothing is taking a more deliberate approach to incorporating AI features. Unlike many of its competitors who rush to add AI to their products, Nothing aims to integrate AI seamlessly at the system level. Pei envisions this will result in a “highly personalized and dynamic user experience.”
Pei was careful not to spill any specific details. However, he did hint at a significant shift from the traditional app-centric smartphone experience that we have come to know and said that the upcoming devices will feature a more integrated and intuitive interface. He referred to this as a “bridge” to a “post-app world” multiple times in his announcement. Pei even criticized other companies for hastily incorporating AI into their products without a coherent strategy.
The delay and the focus on what Pei calls an “AI revolution” have sparked speculation. Some industry observers suggest that the strategic shift may be influenced by the underwhelming sales of the Nothing Phone (2), particularly when compared to the more affordable Nothing Phone (2a). By delaying the release of the Phone (3) and concentrating on groundbreaking AI integration, Nothing may be buying itself time to deliver a truly innovative product and reignite consumer interest.
It will be interesting to see if Nothing and Pei are able deliver on what can only be called a rather ambitious vision. However, it is clear that the company is betting heavily on AI to distinguish itself in the increasingly competitive smartphone market. Pei highlighted that “smartphones will remain the main consumer AI form factor for the foreseeable future.” He mentioned that the company has been designing and prototyping AI interactions for the past two months, emphasizing the importance of getting the integration of hardware and AI right to create useful features. Pei also shared a short demo showcasing what Nothing has developed so far.
In the demo, Nothing claims it is designing an AI that will function across the device.
Nothing’s new AI companion as the company is calling it, will start working with the user right from the onboarding screen, following a series of questions that need to be answered by the user to calibrate it. According to Nothing, these answers will help personalize the AI based on the user’s needs. Nothing also showcased a new home screen interface with several widgets that will use as well as display various dynamic information that will be especially curated by the assistant.
Pei explained that creating enjoyable experiences for smartphones is limited by the lack of data sharing between apps. He claimed that the future of phones is a “post-app world,” an idea that was also teased in the demo. In one home screen layout, the AI companion occupied the bottom half of the screen, while widgets took up the top half. Nothing indicated that it is exploring ways to add proactive-like capabilities to the AI, which could be accessed through the home screen, lock screen, glyph interface, and even through its earphones.
Based on the video, it appears that Nothing might be trying to integrate an on-device AI chatbot powered by an in-house small language model (SLM). While serving as a virtual assistant, this AI could offer additional capabilities such as real-time verbal responses, the ability to customize and change the home screen layout, and receive info from third-party apps to manage more tasks across the device.
However, all of this is speculative, and the exact features of the AI companion will only be known once Nothing makes an official announcement.
For now, Nothing’s bold move to delay the Phone (3) and focus on AI integration is a significant gamble. If successful, it could position the company as a leader in the next generation of smartphone technology. However, it remains to be seen if they can deliver on this ambitious vision and truly revolutionize the smartphone experience.
