A Nothing Smartwatch May Be On The Way

Nothing, the tech startup founded by former OnePlus CEO Carl Pei, halted its product development and launch strategy. The company launched the Nothing Ear (1) wireless headphones in 2021 and a year later, in 2022, released its first smartphone, the Nothing Phone (1). Ear of Nothing (2), direct successor to Ear of Nothing (1). In a few weeks, the company will unveil its 2023 smartphone offering, the No Phone (2). So far, it's clear that Nobody has focused on two product segments: wireless headphones and smartphones. That's likely to change soon, and there are signs that nothing could improve its position in the competitive smartwatch space.

Documents found by the famous Indian Mukul Sharma show that nothing motivated the development of the first smartwatch. The document first came to light a month ago when it appeared in a trademark application. In this app, the product is named "CMF by Nothing". As indicated by CMF's color, material and finish, the application did not generate much interest, as it could well have been one of the company's products. The device also had a model number (D395), which was little known at the time. However, the latest documents found by Mukul show that the D395 is classified as a smartwatch.

Considering it doesn't have a smartwatch portfolio yet, this could be the first sign that the company is finally getting into the segment.

Since no one has started the trademark process for the next smartwatch, a potential launch may still be years away. However, the fact that the company bothered to apply for a trademark is a good sign that it is interested in the space.

Now that we know nothing about his smartwatch, Carl Pei's smartwatch tweet about the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5 Pro makes a lot more sense. In a February 2023 tweet (below), Pei said he thinks smartwatches are "useless" and also asked his audience what they use their smartwatches for. Could this be the first subtle nod to Nothing's grand ambitions for smartwatches?

If None's plans for a smartwatch come to fruition, it will be interesting to see if the company adopts an unconventional design language for this device as it has for its other product lines. That said, it's too early to tell whether this legendary smartwatch will be a full-fledged Wear OS smartwatch or just a cheap fitness tracker. However, we lean more towards smartwatches based on Nothing's track record.

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