Former Google VP Andy Rubin is in talks with carriers about selling a new smartphone he has created with his startup, Essential.
Rubin left Google two years ago after creating Android and the leading the team behind it for eight years. Now that he’s had time away from the search giant, Rubin is planning to take on the iPhone and Android handsets with a new type of smartphone that specializes in artificial intelligence.
“While still in the prototyping stage, Rubin’s phone is aimed at the top of the market where Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Alphabet Inc.’s new Pixel reside,” reports Bloomberg. “It’s expected to include high-end materials and the ability to gain new hardware features over time.”
Essential’s smartphone
Its unclear whether Rubin’s phone will run Android or an all-new operating system. Rubin has said he thinks training AI systems to learn is the next big step for technology, so the company may develop an entire AI platform.
The team behind the new smartphone is comprised of 40 individuals recruited away from Apple, Alphabet and other top tech companies. Rubin hasn’t even announced that the company exists yet. According to Bloomberg, he will serve as CEO while leading the creation of a suite of hardware products.
To stand out against the iPhone, Essential’s device may feature a bezel-free display that’s bigger than the iPhone 7 Plus screen, only in a smaller form factor. Ceramics might be used for the back of the device, which could come with a pressure-sensitive screen and a 3D Touch-like feature.
A proprietary connector on the phone will supposedly be used for charging as well as expansion. Users will be able to slap on accessories to make the device more powerful. A 360-degree camera attachment is supposedly in the works.
Rubin’s team is allegedly planning to launch the phone by mid-2017. Foxconn is in talks to do the manufacturing, and pricing is expected to be comparable to the iPhone 7.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
14 responses to “Android creator plans new device to challenge iPhone”
Oh wow…another “iPhone killer”.
Yawn.
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There is effectively nothing a new startup can do at this point to challenge the existing smartphone market. Platform ecosystems weren’t a significant factor in 2007. They’re everything in 2017.
I wouldn’t be so sure. Everybody said it would be foolish for Apple to get into the phone market, but they did and they succeeded.
I’m not saying this company will succeed, but all it takes is a good idea and new way of thinking that reaches audiences in a new way or reaches audiences outside of the product categories target audience. Apple succeeded because they designed a “smartphone for the rest of us” – maybe this company will succeed by making a smartphone aimed directly at the top-end tech audience.
I get what you’re saying… but Apple was a big company entering an established market. Not an easy task, but they were hardly a startup either. Rubin is a respected engineer, but I’ve not seen any indication that he’s the big “idea” man. What’s more, the area he’s choosing to focus on… “AI” is hardly going to catch any of the incumbents off guard. Both Google and Apple are investing heavily into AI now and have been for years. To that end, I’m not expecting much more than another forked version of Android coming from Rubin.
What’s more… success in the mobile space is about building platforms. He’d need massive developer support and he’d need to come up with services equivalent to what Google and Apple already have. If he just piggy backs on Google’s services, then the product won’t really be differentiated. I realize it’s early, but I’ll go on record as predicting a major fail here…
A proprietary connector on the phone will supposedly be used for charging
A proprietary connector
proprietary
…
Is it really proprietary?
to challenge iPhone ?
Maybe to challenge the hugely successful Pixel ?
When we people realize that challenging just the iPhone will get you nowhere. You have to challenge the ecosystem. No one has the ecosystem that Apple has and no-one has seriously challenged them yet. No one has the complete package that Apple does.
It’s just a publicity thing.
Android Killer or iPhone killer thing can only happen if people are interested in buying it in mass.
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