Andy Rubin finally seems to be ready to launch the new smartphone he has been working on as well as the company the handset would represent. So it’s going to be May 30 when Essential would formally announced the smartphone.
Rubin took to Twitter to make the announcement. Interestingly, the tweet was found geotagged from Cupertino, California even though Essential has its office at Palo Alto. Cupertino meanwhile is famously known to be the home base of Apple. Maybe Rubin wishes to forewarn Apple that its upcoming handset has the iPhone in its sight.
That’s wild speculation of course though unfortunately, that is the best we can resort to at the moment given the stark absence of any sort of information about the mystery handset. The company meanwhile has also revealed a silhouette of the handset which reveals precious little except three physical buttons along the right.
The image also depicts what happens to be the other device Essential has been into developing – a 360 degree camera. Maybe the same would also make its debut on May 30 together with the handset.
Details again are scarce though it seems the cam would attach to the handset to enhance its functionality, allowing the phone to double up as a 360 degree camera as well.
The only other glimpse we have ever had of the phone was an obscure image of the device being held in Rubin’s hand. The image that dates back to March had revealed just a tiny portion around the top right corner of the phone.
However, that was enough to stir up curiosity. For the phone lacked any sort of bezel along the top and sides. If the same is carried forward to the actual production models (and there is no reason to believe it won’t), it no doubt would make for a thoroughly impressive device.
Zero bezel already seems to be the mantra that the smartphone industry has become addicted to. In this respect, LG and Samsung can well be considered to be the first movers. The LG G6 has almost negligible side bezels along with thin strips of it along the top and bottom. The S8 too follows largely the same design theme though the impact is even more pronounced given its curved edge displays.
Apple too is tipped to launch an anniversary edition iPhone that will have its entire front end made of the touchscreen layer. In light of these, it will be really interesting to see what Rubin’s new handset has to offer.
As for Rubin’s credential, he is widely regarded to be the creator of Android. So while it is pretty much confirmed the new phone would be running Android, the actual specs are anybody’s guess right now.
