Andy Rubin Nears His Comeback, Complete With an ‘Essential’ Phone

Android's creator is building a high-end smartphone to be the centerpiece of a series of AI-infused consumer gadgets.

by 

Mark Gurman

 and 

Mark Bergen

January 13, 2017, 9:29 PM GMT+3

 

Just over two years after leaving Google, Andy Rubin is preparing to take on the smartphone industry he helped create.

Rubin, creator of the Android operating system, is planning to marry his background in software with artificial intelligence in a risky business: consumer hardware. Armed with about a 40-person team, filled with recruits from Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Rubin is preparing to announce a new company called Essential and serve as its Chief Executive Officer, according to people familiar with the matter.  A platform company designed to tie multiple devices together, Essential is working on a suite of consumer hardware products, including ones for the mobile and smart home markets, one of the people said. 

The centerpiece of the system is a high-end smartphone with a large edge-to-edge screen that lacks a surrounding bezel. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, Rubin discussed the smartphone with mobile carrier executives, including some from Sprint Corp., people familiar with the talks said.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-13/andy-rubin-nears-his-comeback-complete-with-an-essential-phone

I can't imagine him avoiding the same pitfall that swallowed Windows Mobile and the Amazon OS..no availability of a large selection of apps.  Even though 90% of phone consumers probably only use 10% of the apps available, they still like knowing they are out there and downloadable at the touch of a button.

...how long before it gets bought by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Nokia or Blackberry

 

It's very possible that an AI Phone might flip the phone paradigm again so you don't use 'apps', but just interact with the AI and its reporting graphical display interface   

1 hour ago, dddave said:

I can't imagine him avoiding the same pitfall that swallowed Windows Mobile and the Amazon OS..no availability of a large selection of apps.  Even though 90% of phone consumers probably only use 10% of the apps available, they still like knowing they are out there and downloadable at the touch of a button.

 

I've got one of those Amazon phones in a drawer somewhere. Never did manage to unlock it.