It is no secret that Andy Rubin, the founder of Android, is busy developing a new smartphone device. Very recently, he teased the first ever image of his mobile device through a post on Twitter. His tweet actually does not reveal much, but it should definitely generate some buzz. In the picture, the corner of what appears to be cell phone is displayed. On that very limited display screen real estate, information regarding battery, time, and signal strength is shown.
For those not closely following Rubin’s exploits, he runs a company called Essential Products Inc, whose business revolves around developing smartphones, tablets, and software products for mobile devices. In all likelihood, the device being teased in Rubin’s tweet will be positioned as a flagship offering from Essential Products, at least as suggested by various reports.
It may be too early to tell, but the device teased by Rubin may remind people of the Mi Mix, which was officially announced by Xiaomi back in October of last year. The Mi Mix is bezel-less, with a display screen measuring in at a gargantuan 6.4 inches, offering a resolution of 1,080p, and a ceramic frame.
Of course, nothing is certain at this time yet, but the Mi Mix should serve as a fair comparison point, although one can not really blame Rubin’s crew if they decide to aim for something more unique. Regardless, those interested will only have to wait a few months -- Essential Products is looking to release its flagship smartphone by the middle part of this year.
Essential Products has already managed to develop several prototypes for mobile devices, mostly of the phablet kind. This means that they are mostly bigger than Apple’s iPhone 7 Plus, and they come with display screens without bezels and rear covers made of ceramic material. It appears that Rubin and his crew are busy developing a proprietary version of the 3D Touch technology made popular by Apple, and at the same time, continuing to explore how to make effective and efficient magnetic charging gadgets.
As for this year’s flagship release, the assumption is that it will likely compete directly with the iPhone and Google’s Pixel not only in terms of pricing and but also features, too. And considering that most of Essential Products’ crew are former personnel from Apple and Google, there is a big chance that the finished smartphone product will be one that tries to give the iPhone and the Pixel a run for their money.
