The next great Android phone will have a 360-degree camera

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Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Photo: Andy Rubin

Essential inc, the new tech company founded by the godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, is set to unveil its first product at the end of this month.

A new Twitter account created by the company teased the announcement today with its first ever tweet to hype what many anticipate to be a new Android smartphone. Rubin shot followers a teaser in March, but now Essential is busting out its own glimpses of the smartphone that may include a 360-degree camera.

In a tweet addressed to a fan, Essential posted a new teaser image of its upcoming phone. Details of the device are hidden in shadows, but you can see the outline of the phone with what appears to be a 360-degree camera attachment on the top.

Essential’s first phone

Rumors have claimed that Essential’s phone will pack a proprietary port that has two functions: charging and expandability. Andy Rubin also tweeted an image of his colleague working on what appears to be 360-degree camera software.

Few other details are known about the new Android device, which will go head-to-head with the Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel to battle for Android supremacy. The only other image of the phone we’ve seen came from Rubin’s tweet that showed the corner to a smartphone screen with impossibly thin bezels.

Xiaomi’s Mi MIX concept has an edge-to-edge 1080p display, but it’s not really a mass market product. The only other Android phone with thin bezels is the new Galaxy S8, but it looks like Essential’s design will be even more impressive

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