Essential, a smartphone brand formed by Android founder Andy Rubin, shut the shop earlier this year just after launching one smartphone — Essential PH-1. With all the future plans of the company scrapped, its former designer has shared images of devices which could have been PH-2 and PH-3 smartphones.

Kevin Hoffman was working with Essential as a lead designer on the company’s sequel smartphones which never saw the light of day. He has shared images of the company’s new devices via design process and also reveals why they never got launched.

The design of the Essential PH-2 seems like a natural progress for the PH-1 with the company keeping the rear design same, having two cameras, magnetic pin attachments, and a fingerprint sensor. It also would have been IP68 rated in a move of the company listening to its users demand.

The phone was killed off in its second round of EVT testing. Hoffman says that Andy Rubin himself pulled the plug of this PH-2 smartphone in favor of Essential Home product line, which also never made its way to the market.

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The Essential PH-3 smartphone is said to have been in works this year as well. Given that the product was designed with low build-of-material cost, the company was aiming for the budget segment with this phone.

The company would have used bead-blasted machined aluminium for the body, a 2.5D front glass, and an OLED display. The images also show a triple-camera setup on the back and the frame was flat as a “homage to the original PH1 Essential phone design language.”

The smartphone never made it to the market given that it was in the early stages of development when the company closed its doors last month. Although the company struggled with sales and controversies related to Andy Rubin‘s past, Essential has a very strong track record when it comes to Android updates.

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(Source)

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Co-founder of Android and CEO of Essential Inc., Andy Rubin, took to Twitter to show the world the latest mobile hardware device he and his team have been working on. Suffice to say this is unlike anything we have ever seen before.

The tweets by Mr. Rubin showing off the new device come nearly a year since the last one on October 25, 2018.

…still dialing in the colors pic.twitter.com/4gEpFU7mpZ

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) October 8, 2019

The first tweet shows four devices of varying colors facing downwards in a styrofoam block. The phones look nothing like any modern phone sold right now. You could mistake them for fancy remotes based on their form factor or even an open clamshell phone.

Each one has a huge camera bump with a single sensor in the middle. There is an LED flash at the top left corner while a fingerprint scanner is positioned below the camera. The caption for the tweet says “GEM Colorshift material”, and boy do these colors shift depending on the angle you look at the phones.

A second tweet shows us the same phones but in a still image. The last tweet is the most interesting of all as it shows us the front of the phone.

The new Essential phone is shown to have a display with a very tall aspect ratio. There are bezels of equal lengths on all sides and they don’t make the phone bigger than it should be.

New UI for radically different formfactor pic.twitter.com/Es8hFrTuxx

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) October 8, 2019

The display itself has a large punch hole in the top left corner for the selfie camera. There is an arrow icon pointing to the left of the screen while a red button is at the far top right corner. We believe these are the navigation and close app keys respectively.

In one of the photos, the phone is shown running a maps app that sure doesn’t look like Google Maps while the other image shows multiple apps on the screen with each taking a small quarter of the phone’s display.

As you can see, there is an Uber app, a calendar app, a maps app, and a weather app. Each app takes up a small part of the screen but does so in a very neat way. The caption for this tweet says “New UI for radically different form factor”.

It sure is running a user interface we haven’t seen on any device before, but nevertheless, we believe it is still based on Android.

We are really excited about this new device from Essential Inc. whose first and last phone is the Essential PH-1 which was released back in 2017. We expect more details about the new phone will surface soon.

Update begins here:

The official Essential Twitter account has shared more photos of the new device and one of them gives us a look at the phone’s homescreen.

There is a clock widget at the top with two circles – one showing the phone’s battery level and the other showing the signal level and type (LTE in this case). We also see that the phone is on AT&T’s network.

The homescreen has a UI similar to that of Windows Mobile with its Live Tiles. There is a Spotify tile as well as tiles for phone, maps, camera, messages, and gallery. This photo also gives us another look at the punch hole which houses the selfie camera. The red button at the top red corner in one of the first set of photos is now white.

The new Essential Phone is really comfortable to hold thanks to its really narrow frame. The power button and volume rocker are on the left side of the device but none of the photos give us a good look at the other sides to know if there are extra buttons and the type of ports available.

The second photo shows the phone in all the four colors it will be available in – red, green, blue, and yellow. Thanks to the color-shifting effect, all four will look different depending on the angle you are looking at them from. In this photo, we can also see a transparent TPU case in the corner.

We've been working on a new device to reframe your perspective on mobile. It's now in early testing with our team outside the lab. Look forward to sharing more in the near future! #ProjectGEM pic.twitter.com/BnVy7yM2Kj

— Essential (@essential) October 9, 2019

The caption for the tweet says Essential has been working on a new device to reframe our perspective on mobile. It is already in testing outside the lab and more details will be shared in the near future. The tweet ends with the hashtag #ProjectGEM.

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The first Essential Phone may not have been a commercial success, but the brand managed to garner a decent fan following. It was said that the company had canceled the development of its second generation model last year owing to weak sales. Despite these reports, it looks like the Essential PH-2 may meet us after all.

Recently, Essential founder Andy Rubin, who has been reclusive on Twitter since late last year replied to a tweet asking a fellow Essential fan to ‘Hang Tight’. He further said that the company ‘Will make an announcement’. Given that this reply from the Android co-founder was to a discussion about the Essential 2, it could be a big hint that there’s a new phone incoming.

Last year, Andy Rubin had to face several sexual harassment allegations during his time at Google. Ever since the scandal, he has been very reclusive and has tweeted just four times this year. So when he decided to reply to a nine-month-old tweet all of a sudden, it has to mean there’s something big coming our way. Unfortunately, we can’t be sure whether it’s the Essential PH-2 or some other consumer product.

Despite the criticism received by the first Essential PH-1 model for its sub-par camera and expensive price tag, it is still loved by a lot of fans because of its prompt updates. Even the phone’s design was ahead of its time. So, the second generation could finally hit the sweet spot especially if it comes with powerful camera setup. However, there still isn’t any conclusive evidence that Andy Rubin’s comments were for a new smartphone. So, we’ll have to wait for more details.

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(Source, Via)

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Essential, a smartphone manufacturing brand from Android creator Andy Rubin, has so far launched only one device — Essential Phone PH-1. After launching its first phone last year, the company has not yet announced its plan for the next device.

Previously there were reports about the company working on its second smartphone as well as a smart home speaker. However, both were reportedly slashed because of the poor sales performance of the Essential PH-1.

Now, a report from Bloomberg suggests that the company is putting most of its projects aside and is instead focusing on developing a new kind of phone based on the artificial intelligence technology. The report adds that the phone will be able to mimic the user and will automatically respond to messages on behalf of the user.

According to the report, the design of the upcoming smartphone is not like the standard phone that we’ve seen seeing. Instead, there will be a small screen and the users will be required to interact mainly using voice commands, which will work on the company’s own AI-powered software.

It appears that the major aim for the said upcoming device from Essential is to offer work-related features like book appointments and respond to emails and text messages. However, the report adds that the users would also be able to make phone calls using this device.

While the idea may sound unique and interesting, it remains to be seen how practical this upcoming devcie from Essential is, based on the current limitations of the AI-backed voice assistants. This could also be the company’s last attempt to break into the consumer electronics market.

Essential is aiming to have the prototype of the phone finished by the end of the year so that it can be showcased to industry partners as soon as January at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

The news about the development of this AI-backed phone by Essential comes at a time when there’s no certainty about the company’s future. It has been clouded by workplace misconduct allegations involving Rubin’s time at Google. He also took a brief leave of absence from Essential last November. Earlier this year, the company was also up for sale.

Read More: Essential Phone update brings October security patch and notch settings

Essential is backed by around $300 million, which makes it Silicon Valley’s most ambitious consumer-electronics startup in years. Essentials’s first phone — PH-1 pioneered an edge-to-edge design before the Apple iPhone X. However, the phone’s sales were disappointing due to its relatively high price and buggy software.

(Source)

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This is certainly not good times for Essential phone and its founder Andy Rubin. The startup is already enmeshed in low patronage for its first flagship model which launched for $699 just 3 months back but is now sold for $449. As if that isn’t enough, Andy Rubins has now taken a leave of absence from the company he found. Wonder why? Here’s why.

Turns out that Andy Rubin may have been embroiled in a sexual misconduct case while at Google and this may have necessitated his exit from the tech giant. Recall that Andy Rubin was a co-founder at Android and also a Senior Vice-President of Mobile for Google, piloting the development of the Android operating system for years until he abruptly left in 2014. Details have now emerged that Rubin left Google after an investigation was carried out over complaints that he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a female colleague. Not that he was accused of harassment but there is a policy against such relationships between supervisors and subordinates at Google. Now, the issue resurfaced recently and the bid to avoid a scandal may have resulted in the sudden leave of absence by Rubin from Essential Phone at this time.

Related: Essential Phone Gets Yet Another Price Cut, Available For $449.99

It has not been disclosed when Mr Rubin will return back from his sudden leave but that shouldn’t be too long. Perhaps, he’ll lie low until the dust being generated by an issue which should be dead by now, settles.

(source)

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Essential Phone that has recently released in the market comes preloaded with Android 7.1 Nougat. During a recent AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit, Essential Products Vice-President of Software, Rebecca Zavin, confirmed that the Android 8.0 Oreo update would coming soon to Essential Phone. Moreover, he has also confirmed on the 3.5mm audio jack accessory for Essential Phone users.

Essential Phone Android 8.0 Oreo Update and 3.5mm Audio Accessory

Zavin said that the company would be releasing their kernel and factory images of Android 8.0 Oreo update in the next few days. As far as official Android 8.0 Oreo OTA update is concerned, it has been confirmed to arrive within next month or two.

During the AMA session, the company gave out a statement on why it did not include a 3.5mm audio jack on the Essential Phone. The reason why the feature was axed is that it is a big component and does not go well with full screen design of the smartphone. Including it could have resulted in a bigger chin on the device and reduction of battery capacity by 10 percent. Moreover, the presence of a headphone jack would have created a big bump. Since the company was not ready for such tradeoffs, it decided to build the Essential Phone without a 3.5mm audio jack.

Read More: Essential Phone’s Strong Build Makes it Survive Scratch, Flame and Bend Tests

The company has confirmed that it will be soon releasing a high-end audio accessory that will feature a 3.5mm audio jack as well as a topnotch DAC. This accessory can be connected on the rear-facing magnetic pins of the Essential Phone. A charging dock is already in works and it will be rolling out as the second accessory for the phone. A 360-degree camera module was unveiled during the launch of the phone.

Camera Improvements and Ocean Depth, Stellar Grey Color Models.

Essential Products CEO Andy Rubin has said that the company is working on improving the performance of the camera as they are not satisfied with computational photography software for fusing monochrome and color sensors. Users can also expect camera improvements in the near future through software updates.

As far the white ceramic version of the Essential Phone is concerned, the company is working on its trail builds and retail units would begin shipping in the next few weeks.  As far as Ocean Depths and Stellar Grey color variants of the smartphone is concerned, the company claimed that it is less to produce non-white or non-black color variants. Hence, it won’t be releasing these color models soon.

(source|via)

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The shipment of pre-order Essential Phone units were expected to begin on June 30.  However, Andy Rubin’s company, Essential Products failed to begin the shipments in July. On July 21, the official Twitter handle of Essential revealed a vague confirmation that the Essential Phone would be releasing in “a few weeks.” Its release seems to be drawing near as it has got listed on Best Buy earlier in this week. Amazon will be also selling the Essential Phone and Sprint will be the only carrier selling the Essential Phone in the U.S. Still, the company is silent on its release date.

Earlier in this month, Rubin confirmed that the mass production of the Essential Phone has already started. He added that the company is prepping the release of the smartphone to retailers and service providers across the U.S. Essential Products has confirmed that its investors have pumped $330 million to the company. Some of the well-known investors that invested in Essential Products like Foxconn, Alexa Fund from Amazon and Tecent Holdings from China.

Niccolo De Masi, the president of Essential Products has confirmed to the Wall Street Journal that the company will be announcing the Essential Phone release date in about a week. In the beginning year, the Essential Phone will be selling in single digit millions and its distribution will be also limited. In Canada, the smartphone will be available through the U.S. Telus Corp. The Essential Phone will be sold unlocked through Essential.com, Best Buy and Amazon. The unlocked Essential Phone will be usable on any carrier network. The company will be announcing international carrier relationships later this year.

Read More: Essential Loses Three Executives Soon After Essential Phone’s Launch; Is That Causing Essential Phone’s Delay?

He has said that the U.S. release of the Essential Phone will happen in a few weeks. As mentioned above, Rubin has also said in the previous month that Essential Phone would be arriving in a few weeks. This indicates that the Essential Phone will be hitting the market at a time when popular smartphone brands will be releasing be highly anticipated flagship phones in the coming weeks.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 would be unleashed would be Aug. 23 and the LG V30 will be launched at the end of this month. And Apple will be unveiling the iPhone 8 will be announced in the next month.  The Essential Phone will face stiff competition from these smartphones that will be available through multiple carriers in the U.S.

(source)

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The shipments of Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone were expected to begin at the end of the previous month. However, it’s arrival has been delayed. Since Essential Phone has recently received certifications from FCC and Wi-Fi Alliance, its arrival is close at hand. The 13-megapixel dual rear cameras of the Essential Phone are one of its best features apart from its modular capabilities for 360-degree video and full-screen design. Soon after the unveiling of the Essential Phone, the official camera samples that appeared noisy where released by Essential President Niccolo de Masi. The two photos shared by him on Twitter was deleted and replaced by a better panoramic video. The company has been working hard to improve the camera prowess of the Essential Phone. The company has now revealed how it developed the dual camera setup.

Ms. Yazhu Ling who is honored with MS in Color and Imagining along with PhD in Human Visual Perception is the person who is directing the camera department for Essential. The Essential Phone is equipped with a pair of 13-megapixel camera sensors that comprises of an RGB (color) senor and a monochrome sensor. Both the camera sensors work together to deliver composite shots.

According to Ling who has been working on the camera of the Essential Phone since October last year has said that when the Essential Phone is used to capture still images, both of its camera sensors are used simultaneously to crate a final image with rich and deep clarity. The dual camera of the Essential Phone is also capable of capturing impressive photos in low-light conditions. The following camera sample on the left is the raw unprocessed data shot using the color sensor and the one on the right is the processed image using Image Signal Processing (ISP).

When the dual rear cameras are launched for taking a snap, the surrounding are first examined by the camera sensors to check the available light. Then, the ISP springs into action to input the required light by calculating parameters like white balance, exposure and things of that nature. This process is called objective image tuning which is all about shooting an adequate image.

However, the optimization of the images while shooting does not work perfectly all the time. Hence, many photographers prefer to capture RAW images that may appear dull but are very suitable for editing. Since people want their smartphones to shoot better looking images, Essential Phone employs subjective image tuning for photography. So, what is subjective image tuning? Ling says that, “The key to subjective tuning is capturing all types of pictures in the wild, identifying systematic image quality problems, and adjusting the ISP setting to address them. It is a painstaking, iterative process—but also one I find incredibly rewarding.”

Ling and her team have been working hard to fine tune the subjective ISP technology that runs in background because users make use of the smartphone’s camera in different kinds of scenes, distances and lighting conditions. This will allow the dual rear cameras of the Essential Phone to snap good photos not only in the labs but also in real-life conditions.

Read More: Andy Rubin’s Essential Facing Problems As Top Executives Resign

The above camera samples show amazing results that a smartphone camera can shoot at ISO 1800. This value is quite high for the Essential Phone’s small sensors. Ling has further said that, “our subjective tuning process began in January 2017, and during that time, we have gone through 15 major tuning iterations, along with countless smaller tuning patches and bug fixes. We have captured and reviewed more than 20,000 pictures and videos, and are adding more of them to our database every day. We’re almost there, but I’m not going to stop tuning the camera on our phone until the last possible minute to provide the best photographic experience possible.”

Here is another camera sample:

The camera samples appear are only for preview purpose and they appear quite impressive compared to the grainy shots that was revealed earlier. More of official information can be found on the Essential blog link in the source.

(source|via)

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The Essential Phone by Andy Rubin should already be available for purchase but it is already past 30 days since the shipping date deadline set by Mr.Rubin himself.

It appears the delay isn’t the only problem the new tech company is facing. Reports say it is also having issues with top executives, two of whom have resigned recently.

The company’s vice-president of marketing, Brian Wallace announced his resignation recently. He is now the Chief Marketing Officer of i.am+, a startup founded by musician will.i.am.

Mr Wallace is the second top executive to resign in recent times. Andy Fouché, who held the post of Head of Communications left in June according to His LinkedIn page.

These two positions are key ones in any company and it means a lot if a company loses its marketing and communications chiefs before it even launches its first product. The reason for their departure is unknown but some say Andy Rubin is a difficult person to work with.

The Essential Phone is a Snapdragon 835-powered phone with a bezel-less design. It also plays with modularity as it has support for additional hardware that can be attached to the back via 2 accessory power pins. A 360-degree camera is the first accessory made for the phone.

The Essential Phone has a display of 5.7-inches, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Following the trend of modern smartphones, the Essential PH-1 has dual rear cameras (13MP RGB+ 13MP true monochrome sensors) and up in front is an 8MP sensor. Battery is 3040mAh and there is NFC, Bluetooth 5.0 and Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides.

READ MORE: Essential Phone’s Noisy Camera Samples & 360 Video Shared

The Essential Phone is a beautiful phone but a rugged one too. Instead of aluminium, it has a titanium body making it stronger and more rugged than your average phone.

(Source)

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Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone was the topic on the front burner last week when it was unveiled officially to the public. The Essential Phone-1 dazzled with the sleek design it came with as well as the powerful specs it features. The major highlight was no doubt the Snapdragon 835 chip it would launch packing. Another spectacular feature is the rear camera setup.

The Essential PH-1 packs two 13MP f/1.85 lenses on its rear panel arranged in a horizontal manner, one of which exclusively captures monochrome (black and white) images, while the other one records colours. The two work in conjunction to deliver high-quality photos that would hardly be achieved with conventional single-lens mobile camera setups.

Apart from the dual cameras, the device has a module from where a 360-degree camera can be clipped on the device to enable a whole different kind of phone-based photography. Essential President Niccolo de Masi has now given us a glimpse of what the 360-degree camera and the dual camera samples look like. Interestingly, the dual camera sample photos look quite grainy with lots of image noise all over. The two sample images don’t look like what have been captured by a flagship phone. We may even find much better samples from budget phones. The two sample photos have since been deleted from his Twitter account but the crisps clear panoramic video apparently captured by the Essential Ph-1 is still on his timeline.

Read Also: Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone Makes Its First Official Outing

We really can’t say why the Essential Phone’s camera samples came out bad bot we’re sure the company will reveal better samples soon. But then, if much better ones surface, it becomes difficult knowing what’s true and what’s not.

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Android co-founder Andy Rubin has officially taken the wraps off the Essential Phone which has been in development by his company for a while now. The Essential Phone obviously fits into the high-end market but it is left to be seen if the phone will be able to break through the ranks of Samsung and Apple who both have a stronghold on the high-end market. 

The Essential Phone is the first smartphone from Andy Rubin’s company, Essential and we had brought you news last week that it would be unveiled on May 30. Rightly, the phone was unveiled today alongside a new operating system called Ambient and a gadget that looks like Amazon Echo.

Design & Specifications

Design wise, the Essential Phone comes with an innovative design which gives it the potential to be able to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung in the U.S. and elsewhere. The phone comes with an impressive edge-to-edge design with ultra-thin bezels at the edges. The design looks very minimalistic even lacking any logo but is beautiful. The phone sports a 5.6-inch display and has a high screen-to-body ratio with just the space meant for the selfie camera at the top. This screen isn’t made from glass but is made from a combination of Titanium and ceramic which the company claims make it stronger than those offered by Samsung and Apple.There is no physical button at the front but there is enough space to house a virtual button under the display.

The smartphone also looks beautiful when viewed from the back. The device has a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and comes with a dual camera setup at the rear.  The device will come with a 360-degree camera that can be clipped on the device to enable a whole different kind of phone-based photography.

The Essential Phone comes with a high price tag of $699 and will be available in Pure White, Black Moon, Stellar Grey and Ocean Depth colors. There is no word yet on its availability but the phone is expected to become available in the U.S. first.

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The elusive Essential Android smartphone has been allegedly spotted in a new ad from Michelin. A mysterious phone pops up in the ad at 0:07 and is visible only for a second.

The still shot that we have here shows the mysterious phone with a huge display. Some may speculate that it may be the Xiaomi Mi MIX concept phone. The smartphone in the Michelin ad has only top corners rounded. However, Mi MIX concept phone has all the four corners rounded.

Also, it is not the Sharp Aquos Crystal or the Doogee Mix because the chin of the mysterious device does not feature any button. The Aquos Crystal as well as the Doogee Mix feature large-sized chin with a Home key on it. Hence, it is speculated that it may be the Essential Android phone from Andy Rubin.

The frontside of the phone is mainly occupied by its display and it has a slim button-less chin. The phone sports ultra-slim bezels. The protective case that the phone is wearing has three cutouts which could be for a USB Type-C port, a headphone jack and an external speaker.

Andy Rubin who is known as the father of Android is heavily rumored to be working on a flagship smartphone that is speculated to come with modular capabilities. Rubin has already released a teaser image that only shows a small part of the phone. However, the image does reveal that it features very slim bezels and it probably suggests that the screen occupies major portion of the frontside of the phone. Rumors have it that the phone features a pressure-sensitive display like the one present on recent iPhones.

Read More: Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Has a New Company Working on a Modular Smartphone

Recently, the Essential FIH-PM1 smartphone was found listed on GFXBench benchmarks. The listing revealed that the Essential Android smartphone has a 5.5-inch screen that supports a resolution of 2,560 x 1,312 pixels and it is powered by Snapdragon 835 and 4 GB of RAM. The native storage of the phone is 16 GB. Its rear-facing camera is of 12-megapixel and its selfie shooter is of 8-megapixel. On Geekbench, the Essential FIH-PM1 phone has recorded 1,844 on single-core test and 5,426 on multi-core test.

Rubin is expected to launch the smartphone through his company called Essential Products, Inc. It is expected to debut in the second half of 2017. Here is the Michelin ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqOMV3W-xVc&app=desktop

(source|via)

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One of the most awaited smartphones of this year is the flagship Android smartphone from Andy Rubin, the co-founder of Android OS before Google acquired it. The flagship phone would be released through his company named Essential Products, Inc. Rubin has already teased the first look of the phone and now its specifications have appeared on GFXBench benchmarking platform. In January, the Geekbench benchmarks had also appeared.

The smartphone has appeared with a model number of Essential FIH-PM1. FIH stands for Foxconn International Holdings which indicates that Foxconn could be manufacturing the phone.

It bears a screen size of 5.5 inches and it offers a resolution of 1,312 x 2,560 pixels. The display provides an aspect ratio 80:41 which is similar to 18:9 on the LG G6. The Snapdragon 835 SoC that is present under the hood of the device features a 2.2 GHz octa-core processor and Adreno 540 graphics. The SoC is supported by 4 GB of RAM. The native storage provided on the phone is 16 GB.

Read More: Android Founder, Andy Rubin Teases Essential Phone: First Look at Bezel-less Display

It has a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and a frontal shooter of 8-megapixel. The GFXBench listing suggests that the back camera does not feature autofocus. The phone is preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat. On Geekbench, the phone has scored 1,844 points on single-core test and 5,426 on multi-core test.

I'm really excited about how this is shaping up. Eager to get it in more people's hands… pic.twitter.com/LRzQCFSKTm

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) March 27, 2017

According to Essential, its upcoming smartphone has “the ability to gain new hardware feature over time.” Speculations have it that the Essential phone would arriving with some modular capabilities and the already teased bezel-less display is expected to carry support for a function similar to 3D Touch on Apple iPhones. One of the rumored modules will allow users to snap high resolution 360-degree photos with the Essential phone. Speculations have it that the Essential flagship smartphone may get announced in the second half of this year.

(source|via)

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Andy Rubin is best known as the founder of Android before Google acquired it. After a couple of years working with the search giant, Andy has moved on and started a new company, Essential Products Inc. Essential is reportedly working on a modular phone scheduled to be launched later this year and we just got a first look at the new device.

This is actually a teaser image showing a man we think is Andy holding a phone with practically no bezels. Only a small part of the top of the phone is visible but we believe that the lower part is also bezel-less. That black line you see is actually the back of the phone meeting the screen in front.

I'm really excited about how this is shaping up. Eager to get it in more people's hands… pic.twitter.com/LRzQCFSKTm

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) March 27, 2017

READ MORE: Andy Rubin’s Smartphone Encounters Major Road Bump as SoftBank Pulls Out of $100 Million Investment

Just like Mr Rubin, we are super excited to see the rest of this phone and hold it in our hands. The other major feature the phone will have is modularity. Essential describes it as ‘‘the ability to gain new hardware features over time’’. One of the modules for the phone is a camera that allows owners to shoot high res 360° images. The Essential phone is expected to launch by the middle of the year.

(Source)

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Andy Rubin, the co-creator Android who is known as ”the father of Android” was rumored to launch his own high-end flagship smartphone as early as the oncoming spring to take on the likes of iPhone and Google Pixel smartphones. Fresh reports reveal that the Japan-based SoftBank that was supposed to fund the launch of Rubin’s smartphone has decided not to invest $100 million in Essential Products Inc, a startup company led by Rubin.

Rubin was supposed to launch his smartphone through Essential Products Inc, a new firm consisting of around 40 people that were previous employees of Google, Apple, or Samsung. SoftBank and Essential were reportedly working on the final stages of the contract, but the financing firm has decided to scrap the deal. Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal has reported that it was because of a conflict in interest that made SoftBank decide to not to provide funds to Essential.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son has plans to launch a tech-based investment group called vision Fund later this year with $100 billion in capital. Apple will be investing $1 billion in this fund. Son apparently felt that investing in Essential for Rubin’s smartphone could disturb SoftBank’s relationship with Apple.

Related: Android Co-Founder Andy Rubin Has a New Company Working on a Modular Smartphone

SoftBank had acquired ARM chipmaker in September. The ARM-based processers are used in devices manufactured by Samsung, LG and other companies. Investing in a probable competitor like Essential could lead to restrained relationship with partnering companies. This is also considered to be another reason why SoftBank has withdrawn its investment decision on Essential.

Another report has revealed that Essential would be getting $100 million from unnamed investors instead of SoftBank. Essential is likely to close this deal soon which could possibly help Rubin to launch his smartphone by spring.

Rubin’s smartphone is expected to sport a 5.5-inch pressure-sensitive bezel-less display. It also speculated to carry support for modular accessories like the Moto Mods available for Moto Z series smartphones.

The smartphone was allegedly spotted with Essential FIH-PM1 moniker on Geekbench benchmarks with specs like Snapdragon 835 SoC, 4 GB of RAM and Android 7.0 Nougat OS. In single-core test, it recorded a score of 1,844 whereas it scored 5,426 on multi-core test. Speculations indicate that it is being assembled by Foxconn International Holdings (FIH) which can be seen in the moniker that appeared on Geekbench.

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Remember the Snapdragon 835 Geekbench results we posted a few weeks ago? Chances are that the device used for the test is the upcoming Essential phone. Currently going by the name Essential FIH-PM1, the device has 4GB of RAM, runs Android 7.0 Nougat, and has a Snapdragon 835 SoC clocked at 1.90GHz.

If it turns out that it is indeed the phone, then one of our questions from yesterday is already answered: the Essential phone will run Android OS. Though some folks are expecting a different OS entirely from the company, we think the decision to go with Android is better.

First, we already know the world is not ready for a new mobile operating system. Some of the popular ones are dead like Blackberry OS and Firefox OS or nearly dead already like Windows Phone, leaving us with just Android and iOS.

Second, it is going to be hard work building a new OS from the scratch and finding developers to create apps for it. The best bet will be to use a sort of emulator that lets you install Android apps, and we all know how that went with Blackberry OS 10.

So why not just stick to Android from the onset and save yourself the fate of a failed OS or a great device killed by a failed OS.

READ MORE: Meizu M5S with 2GB RAM, Octa-core Chip Spotted on Geekbench

The Essential phone is expected to be released later this year and is said to be modular in some way, have a bezell-less front and probably feature a 3D touch display. Taiwanese company Foxconn is mentioned as the contractor assembling the device and the ‘FIH’ in the phone’s name is said to stand for Foxconn International Holdings.

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For those who do not know who Andy Rubin is, the following lines should serve as a crash course. Andy Rubin is the co-founder of Android Inc., and after Google acquired it he served as Senior VP of Mobile and Digital Content up until 2013 when he left to head Google’s robotics division. After leaving the search giant in 2014, he set up Playground Global, an incubator for funding startups involved in manufacturing hardware devices.

Presently, he has a new company called Essential Products Inc.; a company focused on making consumer hardware products. Essential Products Inc. has plans to launch a number of their products soon, one of which is a high-end smartphone that will have ‘‘the ability to gain new hardware features over time’’. Not only will the phone be taking a stab at modularity, it is also said to have a large bezel-less display.

The exciting part is actually the modular feature of the phone. According to the description provided, the phone will have a proprietary magnetic connector that serves as a way to charge the phone and also works as a way of expanding the phone’s functionality. So we might be looking at hardware add-ons that attach to the charging port.

Although the company is working on a spherical camera module that shoots high resolution 360° images, the phone will support modules from third parties too.

A prototype of the phone is said to have a display that is bigger than that of the iPhone 7 Plus but has a smaller form factor thanks to its lack of bezels. A similar design can be seen in the Xiaomi Mi MIX. The large display and small size is not the only way the device is similar to Xiaomi’s phone, as it is said to also have a ceramic back. There is also a chance that the display might be pressure sensitive.

READ MORE: LG Confirms That The LG G6 Won’t Be Modular

Rumored to be out by the middle of the year and mass manufactured by Foxconn, the Essential phone is expected to be priced in the same range as Google’s Pixel and the new iPhones. There is no word on what OS the phone will run on but the bet is on it being Android.

Are you excited about a new modular phone?

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