Nothing phone (1) coming later this summer, Nothing OS Launcher arriving in April

Carl Pei - the man behind the Nothing brand made some important announcements today. Nothing is not an audio company as previously thought and it aims to be an ecosystem rival to the likes of Apple. Pei even went as far as claiming that Nothing aims to be “the most compelling alternative to Apple” with products that connect and function seamlessly. The company is in fact readying an entry in the smartphone market which will be dubbed Nothing phone (1) and will run a custom user interface on top of Android dubbed Nothing OS.

As described by Pei, Nothing phone (1) will “be a breath of fresh air to the sleepy smartphone industry” bringing better value to users with a one-of-a-kind design. No actual specifications were provided but we got a clear indication that Nothing is partnering with Qualcomm which is the likely chipset provider as well as Samsung, Sony and Visionox which will also be key component suppliers.

Pei confirmed more information will be shared later this summer signaling a likely launch for the Nothing phone (1) and guaranteed 3 OS updates and 4 years of Android security updates. We also got a cryptic schematic of what’s believed to be the phone (1)’s back design which may feature notification lights and a transparent back design expected to expose some of its key components.

Nothing phone (1) design teaser

Nothing OS will be the custom Android skin power the Nothing phone (1) and the Nothing OS launcher will be available to download and use for select Android smartphones in April. The premise behind the skin is a smooth and fast user experience without any bloatware or heavy system apps. The interface features a dot matrix design with font, icons and widgets throughout the operating system having a unified look.

Pei also talked about dynamic RAM caching which will help your most-used apps launch faster. The UI has gentle changing animations and a uniform design. First-party apps like the voice recorder come with a minimalist design and a cool rewind feature. Speaking of rewind, you can re-watch today’s Nothing event here.