Launching your own smartphone company takes guts. Now, creating a sub-brand so soon after launching a new company takes a more enormous amount of confidence. However, if it’s confidence we’re talking about, OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has that in spades. Only a few years since launching Nothing, the entrepreneur is now building a sub-brand called “CMF by Nothing.”

After announcing his departure from OnePlus, Pei quickly created his next venture called Nothing. Despite the name, Nothing offers something a lot more unique than standard smartphone fare. The company thrives on releasing devices with notable designs and hardware. The company already offers a fairly healthy lineup of smartphones and earbuds.

Now, Nothing has its sights set on another segment. Today, Pei has announced that CMF by Nothing will cater to a different market. It means “Color, Material, and Finish.” Color is certainly something different for Nothing, which releases products using more monochromatic profiles.

Instead of design innovation, CMF by Nothing will focus on “clean design.” It will also focus on accessibility and trusted quality. Given the scant descriptions, the sub-brand will likely offer more traditional devices.

Pei hasn’t announced much else about the new brand itself. However, he did reveal that the first products from the brand will be a pair of earbuds and a smartwatch coming later this year.

SEE ALSO: Nothing Phone (2) Review

Way to go, Ford!

The automotive company delivered a strong retail performance for the first half of the year in the Philippines. Thanks to its Next-Generation vehicle lineup, Ford Philippines’s retail sales rose 55 percent from a year ago to 13,838 vehicles.

The Next-Generation Ranger became Ford’s top-selling vehicle in the country, with sales growing by 25 percent year-on-year to 5,436 units sold. The addition of the Next-Generation Ranger Raptor also boosted retail performance, with sales reaching close to 600 units since its launch in late May.

Furthermore, the newly-launched Next-Generation Territory contributed to Ford’s strong sales as well. Like its predecessors, it’s still the leading small SUV in the Philippines, with sales increasing by 22 percent to 4,493 units. The Next-Gen model also breached the 2,500-unit mark in less than three months after its launch at the Manila International Auto Show.

Meanwhile, the Ford Everest continues to thrive in the competitive mid-size SUV segment. It delivered strong sales performance, growing by 503 percent from last year to 3,786 vehicles.

Enhanced ownership experiences

Ford is committed to improving the ownership experiences, giving the Next-Gen Ranger, Territory, and Everest with a five-year warranty. Moreover, Ford Philippines also introduced new service initiatives designed to provide ease and convenience in owning a Ford vehicle.

For instance, Express Service is offered to customers who prefer to have their vehicles serviced in a more efficient way than the usual maintenance. Pickup and Delivery, on another note, is available for those who are interested to have their vehicle serviced without interrupting their day. Participating dealers will pick-up the vehicle, service it, and bring it back to the customer’s preferred location.

“These milestones testify to our commitment to enhance the Ford ownership experience with vehicles and services that our customers need and deserve,” shares Mike Breen, managing director, Ford Philippines.

“We celebrate these milestones with our customers who continue to patronize the Ford brand, as well as with our dealers for their partnership and commitment to enhance the customer experience. We are truly energized and excited for what’s to come for the second half of the year.”

Twitter is in dire straits. After making a surprising number of controversial decisions, the platform is now on the back foot following the rise of Meta’s Threads. Despite the apparent drop on popularity, Twitter can at least hope that the business model is putting up good revenue numbers. However, that’s not the case. Elon Musk has admitted that the company is still firmly in the red.

Last weekend, Musk replied to a tweet suggesting a solution to Twitter’s revenue woes. The tweet suggested selling off the platform’s debt to a consortium that shared Musk’s vision. In response, Musk said that the company is still in the negative. The drop, explained in the same response, is due to a 50 percent drop in ad revenue.

As such, Musk cannot sell off the debt until the company breaks even. Now, the company is trying quite a lot of strategies to make the platform attractive to advertisers and creators again. Most, however, fall on the negative side of controversy, emphasized by a more polarizing subscription system.

Early on during Musk’s reign as the owner of Twitter, a lot of advertisers backed out from the platform due to the changes. The company, headed by new CEO Linda Yaccarino, is still crawling its way back from a mass exodus of advertisers.

SEE ALSO: Twitter uses a ‘dick pic bot’ to weed out nudity