For Nothing, Cellular World Congress was prelude. The younger {hardware} startup spent the present in assembly rooms, behind the scenes, discussing what got here subsequent. As we famous throughout the present, the rapid reply is a smartphone, a tool founder Carl Pei was completely happy to point out off in back-door conferences with key cellular executives.
At the moment, Nothing introduced that it will likely be discussing a few of its future strikes at a livestreamed occasion on March 23. The timing actually traces up with the “by subsequent month” timeline that we famous in our current report — closely implying that we’ll get our first actual glimpse of the upcoming Android handset.
Additionally pointing in that route is a wholesome new funding spherical, to the tune of $70 million. In a launch, the corporate notes, “The funding will likely be used to create new product classes in partnership with Qualcomm Applied sciences and its Snapdragon platform, and develop operations at its new London Design Hub, led by ex-Dyson Head of Design Adam Bates.”
Qualcomm was introduced as a strategic companion for the agency final October, when Nothing additionally famous that it had raised a $50 million Collection A extension.
“With this spherical of financing, we’ve the gas to grasp the following part of our imaginative and prescient of a seamless digital future,” Pei mentioned in an announcement. “I’m grateful for the help from our group and traders. Our first 12 months was a warmup, and we are able to’t wait to disclose what we’re constructing at Nothing throughout the upcoming occasion.”
Pei was additionally photographed with Qualcomm executives throughout final week’s occasion in Barcelona. Clearly the chipmaker builds parts for excess of simply handsets lately, however additional help could be present in a Twitter trade between Pei and the Snapdragon and Android accounts.
The product can be Nothing’s second, following final 12 months’s ear(1) headphones. As we famous in our preliminary report, the smartphone will share design components with its predecessor, together with some transparency in its casing.
The disclosing kicks off 9 a.m. ET on the 23rd.