Would you really want a smartphone that doesn’t haven any pre-installed apps? Well, that’s the thinking behind this new minimalist device called Essential, the brainchild of Android founder Andy Rubin. While it is based on the Android platform, the main difference is that there are no pre-loaded apps on it so you should have more freedom. They are planning a launch in the UK, Europe, and Japan but the US is not yet on that initial list.
Niccolò de Masi, the Chief Operating Officer of Essential, says that this device is for “trend setters and technology seekers” as there is no other device like this currently in the market. Aside from being minimalist, the smartphone is also aiming to have modular elements that you can just clip on it, like the 360-degree camera that Essential has also developed. They are also looking into the audio, fitness, and virtual reality segments as accessories to the smartphone.
Essential currently has 100 staff and is in the process of raising funds and they have already gotten the backing of companies like Foxconn, Chinese internet company Tencent, among others. Rubin’s own tech fund Playground is of course funding the company. Interestingly enough, Playground is backed by Google and HP. Now as to whether this will guarantee the success of Essential remains to be seen.
The smartphone was supposedly to have made its debut in the US by June, as set by Rubin, but obviously they’ve missed this. They are still currently in talks with UK mobile operators to finalize the launch date of the $699 handset. We’ll keep a close eye on when and where it will officially launch and what kind of reception it will meet.
VIA: Financial Times
Think you’ve got that a bit wrong when you say ‘the US is not yet on that initial list’. You’ve been able to reserve the Essential Phone in the US since it was announced (hence the price in dollars) and it was meant to land there in June. It missed that launch date but the US will still probably be the first, or one of the first, places to get it.
Edit: Ah, I see how you got it wrong. The Financial Times says that its planning an international launch ‘although it has yet to launch… in the US’. That doesn’t mean the US isn’t one of the initial countries, quite the opposite, it’s just noting that the company is planning an international roll out before it’s even launch in the first planned country.