The Morning After: Nothing’s Carl Pei wants to make smartphones exciting again


Carl Pei thinks there’s something wrong with the smartphone industry. Like a lot of us, Pei has started feeling like new phones just aren’t as special as the devices of five or 10 years ago.

He thinks the big players are all circling the same ideas in smartphone design. (Something true for at least a decade now.) And that’s where his new company, Nothing, comes in. Pei wants to bring some originality back to mobile tech design. “Maybe we can turn down the brain a little bit and turn up the intuition,” said Pei. Check out our full interview with the former co-founder of OnePlus.

Nothing

While we haven’t properly tested the device yet, the Nothing Phone 1 is already available to pre-order – you just need an invitation. Word of warning: Nothing has already said the Phone 1 will not officially come to North America beyond a closed beta for a handful of private community investors. The device should work but won’t have full support.

Me? Well, I live in the UK. Sorry about that.

– Matt Smith

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Contrary to reports, it’s still in its early stages.

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With a new chip and display.

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It has delayed the FDA’s ban on its vape pens and pods.

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The Thiomargarita magnifica is as long as a human eyelash.

TMA

Jean-Marie Volland / Berkeley Lab

A bacterium classified as the largest ever discovered needs no special tools to be visible to the naked eye. Thiomargarita magnifica, as it’s called, has a filament-like appearance and can be as long as a human eyelash. The BBC explained it’s bigger than some more complex organisms, such as tiny flies, mites and worms.

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