Android Creator Launches a Phone of His Own

Essential, a company founded by Andy Rubin, the "father of Android," on Tuesday pulled off the wraps on a new high-end smartphone.

The Essential Phone, priced at US$699, includes radios for connecting to all major U.S. carriers.

The unit has an almost edge-to-edge display (there's a bit of bezel at the bottom of its screen) that wraps around the 8-MP selfie camera at the front.

Built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, the Essential Phone comes with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

For durability, the phone has a titanium and ceramic body, which allows it to survive drops with nary a blemish, according to the company.

Magnetic Accessories

Accessories can be added to the phone via a magnetic connector on its backside. Two accessories are included with the unit — a 360-degree camera and a charging dock.

Also on the phone's back is 13-MP dual sensor camera. Unlike other phones with dual-sensor cameras, which use the second sensor to take telephoto pictures or create bokeh effects, Essential uses its second sensor to boost low-light performance.

Like some other high-end phone models, the Essential mobile doesn't have a headphone jack.

In addition to its smartphone, Essential announced Home, a smart home hub. It runs on Ambient OS, an operating system that Essential hopes will become the Android of the IoT world.

Home is designed to tie together all the disparate protocols now in the space — SmartThings, HomeKit, Nest and others — as well as the various digital assistants — Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant — into a seamless user experience.

"I like that Rubin announced both the new phone and the home hub," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy.

"It reinforces that the company isn't just a point player, and that matters to distribution channels," he told TechNewsWorld.

 

 

 

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