Is Nothing behind mysterious new ‘Particles by XO’ earbuds?

A brand new Bluetooth SIG itemizing has 91Mobiles and us speculating whether or not Nothing could possibly be concerned in a second true wi-fi earbuds model. By itself the itemizing isn’t something fascinating. It’s for an unnamed pair of wi-fi earphones with the mannequin quantity B154 working the Bluetooth 5.2 customary. However that mannequin quantity, B154, beforehand appeared in a December report from 91Mobiles which stated they’ll be offered beneath the identify “Particles by XO,” although it’s unclear whether or not this refers back to the earbuds themselves (Particles?), the subbrand (XO?), or some mixture of the 2.

B154 in the meantime, reportedly pertains to a pair of wacky wanting true wi-fi earbuds with an odd bulbous design. Pictures of the earbuds had been discovered by app sleuth Kuba Wojciechowski, who additionally reportedly unearthed the branding “Particles by XO” listed as made by Nothing in firmware from the corporate’s servers. Options reportedly embrace help for lively noise cancellation, in response to 91Mobiles. Apart from this report, nevertheless, there’s little apparent to hyperlink Nothing to this “Particles by XO” branding, which seems in a US trademark submitting registered to an organization known as “The Should Unknown LLC.”

So what’s happening? Whereas it appears unusual for a younger firm like Nothing (which to this point has launched simply three merchandise) to be creating a second model, its CEO Carl Pei has beforehand hinted at these kinds of future developments. Final yr, Pei advised me that he had ambitions for Nothing to seek the advice of with different corporations to assist them launch their merchandise. “We [could] assist them do a number of the work that they’ll’t do themselves,” Pei stated. Might “Particles by XO” be the primary of such partnerships?

A spokesperson for Nothing didn’t instantly reply to The Verge’s request for remark.