You may remember the Essential Phone – Android co-founder Andy Rubin’s quest to make phones his own way. Launched in 2017, the Phone may have only been heard by tech heads, but years later would prove to be so ahead of its time that it has paved the way for designers today. And years later, it still looks incredible.
The Essential PH-1 was, for a brief moment, a shining example of what Android phones should aspire to be, especially when it came to software updates. Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, however, the company folded and was unable to release any other product. That's not to say the company didn't have any other products in the works and now a former designer has shown off briefly the phones that could have come after Essential's first.
The Essential PH-1 was truly a one-hit-wonder, especially now that the company has announced it would be shutting down. No longer will fans receive the super early updates that were the pride of Android users and the shame of OEMs. It seems, however, that Essential will be giving them a parting gift in the form of an Android 11 preview. While not coming directly from Essential, the move proves one last time how a well-designed Android phone should ideally behave.
Essential dropped quite the bomb today, announcing that it will cease operations entirely. This shutdown means three important things, the first being that Project GEM is no more. Essential's Newton Mail app will stop functioning in April, and the Essential PH-1 - the only phone that the company brought to market - will no longer receive any updates.
Could we be looking at the new Essential Phone, and if so are we ready for a radically different form-factor in our smartphones? Former Googler and Essential founder Andy Rubin has taken to Twitter for some unexpected teasing, showing off what looks to be a very unusual smartphone that bucks the pervasive trend for vast touchscreens.
Essential is one of the unfortunate tragedies of the Android smartphone market. It may have been too ambitious and too confident on Andy Rubin's legacy and overestimated its capability to sell the Essential PH-1. Its attitude towards updates, however, will make Android users jealous of the company's track record. The good news is that Essential has practically confirmed that it is working on its second mobile product. The bad news is it may be quite far from the phone that made it the talk of town.
As leaked before, Google finally and formally released Android 10, previously known as Android Q, to the world. That, however, might not matter much to most Android users who will still have to wait for their phone makers to roll out the update to their phones, if at all. It does mean that the guessing and waiting game for users has started but, at least for three brands outside of Google's own Pixels, they might not have to wait that long.
A report today suggests Google's next OS update for smartphones called Android 10, or Android Q, will be released in the first week of September. This schedule fits with the phone list that's already been in play for the Android Beta program for the software that's just reached its final Beta earlier this month. All the Google Pixel phones are on the list, that's almost a given, but what other devices will get Android 10 right away?
Ever since the Stagefright scare that rocked the Android world, Google has religiously been pushing out updates every month. Most of the time, it’s just full of security patches, unsurprising considering they’re monthly security bulletins. This time, however, Google does have a few treats waiting for Pixel phones. And, as usual, Essential is leading the way when it comes to OEMs rolling out the update to its users.
Andy Rubin made a tweet today and confirmed that the company he started, Essential, was still in business. The first most obvious reason he'd have said what he did was that the company has more hardware in store - like an Essential Phone 2. But it might just be that he's been pressured by fans to the point at which he couldn't help but give some confirmation that the company wasn't going to leave future customers completely in the dark.
So you'd like to make certain your phone isn't connecting to anything, hearing, seeing, or sensing anything at all, right? Now you can make that happen. Before now, users needed to gain root access (read: not easy for the average person) and potentially void their warranty. Now it's easy. All you need to know is where to look!
It's that time of year again but, thankfully, this isn't about that non-holiday that some love and others love to hate. Admittedly, Google could have perhaps chosen a better date to publish its April 2019 security bulletin for Android phones in general and its own Pixel phones. April 1 or otherwise, the security and performance issues they address are no laughing matter and it's very encouraging to see Essential still taking things very seriously.