Andy Rubin, developer and creator of Android, is preparing to release his own smartphone called Essential.
Andy Rubin is the co-founder of Android Inc, which was sold to Google in 2005. He oversaw the development of Android at Google until 2014, when he began managing the robotics department.
After working at Google for nine years, he left the company in 2014 and started a hardware manufacturing company called Playground Global.
Bloomberg reported today that Rubin is preparing to launch a new company, to be called Essential Products Inc., which will apparently include the smartphone he already has in the works. The new company has already hired a team of 40 people from Apple Inc. and Google.
Bloomberg also reports that they are working on a suite of consumer hardware products, including mobile and smart home devices. The company's main project will be a high-end smartphone with a curved display on the edges.
Rubin has already registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office goods and services such as smartphones, tablets, accessories and mobile operating software, so it is unclear whether his devices will run Android.
Rubin's smartphone will be made of top-quality materials and have a modular design, seeing that there is demand for such devices in the market.
The new phone is expected to compete with Google's Pixel and Apple's iPhone. Apparently, Foxconn will be the company responsible for manufacturing the new phone. It is expected to hit the market in the middle of this year, at a price similar to the iPhone 7.
