In a new interview, Nothing’s Carl Pei lays out his vision for the future of smartphones, and it’s a future where you don’t use apps anymore, instead relying on the OS and AI to get things done.
We already know that Nothing has a heavy focus on AI going forward thanks to a leaked memo that called Phone (3) the “first step” towards an “AI-powered platform.” The first signs of this came with “Essential Space” on Nothing Phone (3a).
Now, speaking with WIRED, Nothing’s Carl Pei is offering a bit more insight into how his company is looking at the future of smartphones.
Pei says that Nothing’s strength is in “creativity,” adding that “the creative companies of the past” such as Apple “have become very big and very corporate, and they’re no longer very creative.”
He then dives into what else but AI, explaining that Nothing wants to create the “iPod” of AI, saying that Apple built a product that simply built a better user experience.
If you look back, the iPod was not launched as “an MP3 player with a hard disk drive.” The hard disk drive was merely a means to a better user experience. AI is just a new technology that enables us to create better products for users. So, our strategy is not to make big claims that AI is going to change the world and revolutionize smartphones. For us, it’s about using it to solve a consumer problem, not to tell a big story. We want the product to be the story.
Pei then says that he doesn’t see the current trend of AI products – citing wearables such as smart glasses – as the future of the technology. Rather, he sees the smartphone as the most important device for AI “for the foreseeable future,” but as one that will “change dramatically.”
According to Pei, the future of the smartphone is one without apps, with the experience instead just revolving around the OS and what it can do and how it can “optimize” for the user, acting as a proactive, automated agent and that, in the end, the user “will spend less time doing boring things and more time on what they care about.”
Top comment by TurboFool
So his first few points are spot-on. AI won't be great until we stop talking about it and acting like it's a user-facing feature and instead just rely on it to underpin things people actually care about. Talk about the result, not the technology driving it.
And overall we're unlikely to have secondary devices like those he mentioned take over here. They're one more thing to carry, they're less useful overall, they tend to have limited circumstances in which they work, and overall they're just not the one thing you're definitely always carrying with you. Until we move to something that could fully replace a phone, it's unlikely to have anywhere near as much impact.
However the rest of his argument sounds too close to what didn't work for Windows Phone. No app maker/service provider/brand wants you to NOT interact with their controlled environment and interface. They want your eyes on them, their brand in your face, their advertisers altering your desires, their world to be yours. Now can they necessarily STOP all this from happening? I'm not sure. But being fully replaced by AI agents is going to be a battle. And while I'm in favor of it in many circumstances, I don't have the power of a multi-billon dollar corporation.
Pei explains:
I believe that in the future, the entire phone will only have one app—and that will be the OS. The OS will know its user well and will be optimized for that person…
Right now, you have to go through a step-by-step process of figuring out for yourself what you want to do, then unlocking your smartphone and going through it step by step. In the future, your phone will suggest what you want to do and then do it automatically for you. So it will be agentic and automated and proactive.
Does this mean that Nothing Phone (3) will ditch apps? Of course not. Pei says that this vision won’t be realized for “7-10 years” because “people love using apps.”
What do you think of Pei’s vision for the future of smartphones?
More on Nothing:
- Nothing Phone (3) officially launching in July
- Nothing Phone (3) surfaces as rumors suggest revamped cameras, larger battery
- Nothing Phone (3) officially ‘going all in’ with a big price hike
Follow Ben: Twitter/X, Threads, Bluesky, and Instagram
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments