Nothing CEO Carl Pei photographed showing smartphone to Qualcomm’s CEO

Last week, when TechCrunch reported that OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei’s new startup, Nothing, could be on the verge of announcing its first smartphone, it said it had seen a picture of Pei showing off a prototype of the unannounced device to Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon. Now, a very similar, if not the very same image, has been publicly posted to Twitter by prolific and reliable leaker Evan Blass.

Everything about this photo screams “tech trade show.” There’s the slick modern decoration, the pristine carpets, the reusable water bottle kept close at hand, and, of course, the unmistakable sign of pristine white sneakers worn with skinny jeans and a jacket. TechCrunch reported that the photo it saw was taken at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and you know what? I believe it.

But enough about the room — let’s take a closer look at the phone itself.

Enhance:

Enhance!

Image: @Evleaks

ENHANCE!

Image: @Evleaks

Yep, sure looks like a smartphone to me. TechCrunch reports that we might see it officially announced by next month and that it’ll include “elements of transparency” in its design. But I’ll be damned if there’s anything more we can glean about the phone itself from the blurry picture above (though, please, prove me wrong in the comments).

As a recap, Nothing launched its first product, a pair of true wireless earbuds, last year. But from the beginning, Pei has been clear that he plans for it to produce a whole ecosystem of devices. A smartphone would be a logical part of that ecosystem, although I’ll be interested in seeing what the company is able to achieve after having only existed for a little over a year.