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.

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Earlier this year, Android co-founder Andy Rubin launched smartphone brand Essential and its first smartphone — Essential Phone. The smartphone was launched in May this year, with a price tag of ₹699.

Recently, the phone received a price cut of $200, bringing the effective price of the smartphone to $499. Now, the US-based retailer BestBuy has cut down the price of Essential Phone by another $50 and it is now available for just $449.99.

Along with the Essential Phone PH-1, the 360-degree camera accessory also received a price cut, but it seems to have gone out of stock for now. However, it appears that the discount is not official as Essential is still selling the smartphone for $499.

While cutting down the pricing of the Essential Phone, the company had not revealed the reason. However, it is believed that the company could be struggling to make its mark given that there are many popular flagship smartphones in the market such as LG V30, Samsung Galaxy Note 8, Apple iPhone 8, Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.

Essential Phone features a 5.7-inch bezel-less display that comes with a screen resolution of 2560 x 1312 pixels and an unusual aspect ratio of 19:10. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, along with 4GB of RAM 128GB of internal storage.

The smartphone features a dual camera system at the back, which includes a pair of f/1.85 aperture 13-megapixel sensors — one is monochrome lens while the other one is RGB lens. It also has a f/2.2 aperture 8-megapixel front-facing camera.

It is fueled by a 3,040mAh battery. On the back of the phone, there is a set of magnetic pins that hold Essential modules just like Motorola’s Moto Mods. The 360-degree camera is the only module available for now but the company says they will release new accessories every few months.

There is NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, USB Type-C and stereo speakers. The phone runs on Android 7.1 Nougat operating system out of the box with planned update to Android 8.0 Oreo.

Read More: Only 5000 Units of The Essential Phone Sold Through Sprint

At the time of announcing the launch, the company promised that Essential Phone will receive guaranteed updates for two years. It will also get monthly security updates for the next 3 years.

(Source)

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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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