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The Essential Phone from Android founder Andy Rubin may be running the most popular operating system on the planet, but it’s also meant to fix its shortcomings, as implied by Rubin himself. The famous software engineer previously stated that Android’s fragmentation and accessibility led to a “weird new world where people are forced to fight with the very technology that was supposed to simplify their lives,” adding that consumer electronics manufacturers and software developers surely must be able to do better than that and deliver a solution that’s more consistent and intuitive. Following the announcement of the Essential Phone, it’s clear that Rubin wasn’t talking about a closed, iOS-like platform; the newly unveiled device still runs Android and will reportedly be free of bloatware, with Rubin stating that Essential won’t force consumers to run any kind of software that they don’t want to have on their device due to the fact that consumer electronics should be personal and fully controllable property.
Coupled with the fact that the Essential Phone is meant to be a relatively “future-proof” gadget, it seems that Rubin’s new startup is trying to disrupt the mobile industry from its very core, though it’s still unclear how exactly is the company planning to do that. While the bezel-less Essential-branded handset isn’t meant to be an alternative to Google’s open source operating system, its variant of Android is said to be the answer to Android’s most common issues – lack of updates, bloatware, and possibly even planned obsolescence. Essential’s Ambient OS that’s running on the Essential Home Internet of Things (IoT) gadget may be the company’s long-term alternative to Android or just a side project that its creators are aiming at a niche market but regardless, the entirety of the firm’s newly announced product lineup is seemingly aimed at creating a new, simplified ecosystem that users won’t have to “fight with,” as Rubin put it.
More details on the Essential Phone and the design philosophy behind it should be available later today once Rubin himself takes the stage at the latest Code Conference that’s scheduled to start at 6 AM PT. The device is scheduled to be released in the United States in the near future and will reportedly only be available unlocked, priced at $699.