Advertisement
The smartphone market has been dominated for years by Samsung, Apple, and a mix of a handful of other big brands. This has resulted in startups typically competing for a piece of the market, often turning the page from their original fan base after reaching a larger market. This week, two startup Android brands, Nothing and OSOM, both made some controversial moves – are you still interested in either?
Nothing Phone (1) is not coming to the US
After leaving OnePlus, Carl Pei quickly took on the startup Nothing. The company quickly released a pair of well-reviewed earbuds, but everyone expected a smartphone at some point.
In recent months, Nothing has been hyping just that, using Carl Pei’s signature marketing tactics, of course – even with the return of the invite system. Inevitably, it created a lot of buzz around the device despite not knowing much about what it would bring to the table. And it worked, there was a lot of excitement around the device from enthusiasts.
But nothing confirmed that the phone (1) will not come to the United States at launch. While this is certainly in the company’s best interest, it still changed the story.
For months, fans in the US and publications in the US have been talking about this device, thinking it’s going to hit the US market. If Nothing had said this in advance, or even hinted at it, the reaction would have been very different. But actually it came out of nowhere. Of course, a Nothing Phone (1) is rumored to be coming to the US at a later date, but it still really hurt an otherwise exciting device.
OSOM OV1 is dead, for a crypto phone…
Certainly the larger of the two steps here came from OSOM.
Founded and staffed by the team behind Essential, the company initially seemed incredibly promising. The design of the device was very similar to the original PH-1, offering an updated look that was simple but beautiful to look at. And the device was built around a central goal – privacy.
Given the track record of the people behind it and everything we had seen so far, it was a smartphone that I was personally very excited about.
Well, it’s a crypto phone.
Yesterday, OSOM announced a partnership with Solana, a Web3 company and blockchain platform. The partnership was originally envisioned as OSOM building a smartphone to the Solana, however, turned out to be an OSOM OV1 being replaced from the “Solana Saga”.
It’s hard not to feel like this wasn’t a lure and switch, months of building hype around a device that’s aimed at a smaller privacy-focused market, only to do the unexpected for something quite throwing other things away.
Are you still interested in one of these devices?
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.
It’s a sentiment that’s been thrown around a lot since those two announcements, and it’s understandable. Both OSOM and Nothing, intentionally or not, toyed with hype only to later make massive changes. While one pill is certainly harder to swallow than the other, it’s hard not to feel a sense of betrayal.
How do you feel about this? Write a comment below!
On a similar note, can we take a second to remind ourselves that both Nothing and OSOM have ties to Essential?
Of course, OSOM literally consisted of the team that made the Essential Phone what it was, the same people who provided the epic update support and design of this under-loved device. Meanwhile, nothing bought the Essential name, although it was never used.
One almost wonders if this is not a coincidence…
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Visit 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
