British technology brand Nothing will integrate ChatGPT into its smartphones and earbuds as the start-up looks to embrace Artificial Intelligence (AI) in its products.
ChatGPT is developed by the team at OpenAI — a non-profit originally funded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk but has since enjoyed a $13 billion investment from Microsoft. This clever AI is capable of human-like conversations to complete various tasks. It can answer questions, rewrite emails and essays, dream up recipes or travel itineraries, generate code and more from short, written prompts.
Nothing said an incoming software update will enable those with a Nothing Phone (2) to start interacting with ChatGPT from widgets on the Android homescreen, or via a text, voice or image search. The same functionality will land on Nothing Phone (1) and the more affordable Nothing Phone (2a), which was launched by the company last month.
The British start-up made its announcement as it unveiled its two all-new earbuds, Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a), which will go on sale tomorrow (April 20) at the firm’s London store, and April 22 elsewhere.
Nothing Ear (a) ship in a vibrant new yellow colourway, while keeping much of the same transparency that helped the British start-up stand-out from the competition when it launched in October 29, 2020
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Designed by the team in London, these wireless earbuds are designed to compete with the likes of Apple AirPods, Samsung's Galaxy Buds, and Google's Pixel Buds A-Series.
Nothing Ear ship in a choice of white or black, with the trademark transparent plastic that Nothing has become known for visible on the stems of the wireless earbuds. Meanwhile, the more affordable Ear (a) arrive in white, black, or a vibrant shade of yellow.
Nothing Ear will cost £129 at launch, while the Nothing Ear (a) will retail at £99.
Nothing Ear arrive in a choice of white and black, with the trademark transparent stem and interchangeable silicone tips to provide a seal inside your ear
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Both of these 'buds include Active Noise-Cancellation, or ANC, which extinguishes distracting sounds so you can listen at lower volumes even in noisy environments. Nothing includes adaptive ANC, which uses an algorithm to apply the correct level of noise cancellation based on the amount of noise taking place in your surroundings in real-time in the controls for both 'buds.
Ear and Ear (a) support fast charging, with 10-minutes plugged into the mains, resulting in 10 hours of listening time. Nothing says its new earbuds offer more than 40 hours of listening time when paired with the carry case. Using a voice command with the Ear and Ear (a) 'buds will summon ChatGPT.
The tight integration with ChatGPT comes as an increasing number of devices start to embrace generative AI, often as a companion or assistant for users, amid rapid innovation in the sector driven by chatbot apps such as ChatGPT. Samsung made Galaxy AI the headline feature of its new Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra smartphones released back in January, which can help to manipulate photographs, automatically parse and summarise notes in bullet points, and translate incoming calls and text messages in real-time.
Microsoft is tapping into OpenAI to power its Copilot feature on Windows 10 and Windows 11 laptops. While some features are only available with a £19 subscription, Copilot is able to put together recipes, generate code, and adjust the tone of your emails with a quick written command.
However, the rollout of AI-powered gadgets has not been without its issues in recent weeks. The Humane AI Pin, a broach with a virtual assistant built-in, was widely panned by reviewers.
Nothing is taking a different approach to introducing more powerful AI tools to users by integrating it into existing and well-known devices such as phones and earbuds, rather than new types of devices altogether.
“Through the new integration, users with the latest Nothing OS and ChatGPT installed on their Nothing phones will be able to pinch-to-speak to the most popular consumer AI tool in the world directly from Nothing earbuds, including the newly launched Ear and Ear (a),” the company said in a blog post.
As well as being accessible with a tap from the incoming Nothing Ear and Ear (a) earbuds, ChatGPT's generative AI will be available from a series of custom-designed homescreen widgets for Nothing's suite of Android smartphones, beginning with the Nothing Phone (2)
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“Nothing will also improve the Nothing smartphone user experience in Nothing OS by embedding system-level entry points to ChatGPT, including screenshot sharing and Nothing-styled widgets.”
Nothing founder Carl Pei said the move was “our first steps towards change, and there’s more to come”.
Additional Reporting By Martyn Landi, PA Technology Correspondent
