Android Inventor Unveils New Smartphone And Home Assistant

Essential, a company founded by Android inventor Andy Rubin, unveiled a new smartphone and home assistant, potentially putting the company into competition with Apple Inc. and Amazon Inc . The titanium phone, called Essential, includes a full display screen, 128 gigabytes of storage and a camera that can take 13-megapixel pictures and 4K videos. The phone, which has a price point of $699 for pre-orders, has the option for accessories that magnetically click to the phone, like a 360-degree camera. The Essential Home device will run on an Ambient OS system that can tell the user when to travel to avoid traffic, among other options. The home device does not yet have a price point or launch date, according to the site. Rubin said in a blog post that he started the company because of the lack of choice in the technology space, as well as unnecessary features and products that were not compatible with each other.