Andy Rubin is looking to disrupt the smartphone industry, again. The Android co-founder is reportedly working on a new smartphone which may provide some serious challenge to the likes of Apple and Samsung.
Rubin is set to unveil a new company named Essential, which he is expected to lead as the CEO. It is believed that Rubin is collaborating with a core team of 40 professionals, most of them coming from Google and Apple.
Essential is planning to deal in various devices ranging from smartphones to connected devices. The smartphone is expected to feature a massive edge-to-edge screen sans bezel. With these specifications, the phone is likely to be placed at the top of the heap, along with Apple iPhone and Google Pixel.
Rubin allegedly held discussions with various telecom service providers including Sprint Corp at the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Representatives of Rubin and Sprint have, however, declined to issue any comment.
Rubin is enthusiastic about Artificial Intelligence. At the Bloomberg Technology Conference in June last year, he said, "New computing platforms happen every 10 to 12 years. What's the next platform?... It's about data and people training AI systems to learn."
Rubin's latest offering is said to be in the prototype stage. Apart from its minimal bezel, the phone is expected to have a ceramic back as well as metal edges. The phone may also come equipped with a 3D Touch like feature to allow the device differentiate between different pressure levels.
The phone may be modular in design where several features may have an add-on functionality. One of such add-on may allegedly be a 360-degree camera.
Rubin sold Android to Google in 2005. He joined Google where he spearheaded the mass proliferation of the operating system. However, he quit the company in 2014 to focus on Artificial Intelligence.