Essential Gem? Andy Rubin unveils the smartphone's new design
Andy Rubin, CEO of Essential, has sent Twitter into a frenzy. And the reason? The unusual shape of the successor to the Essential PH-1.
Andy Rubin is one of the founders and early developers of the Android operating system. In November 2015, with Essential Products, he joined the world of smartphone manufacturers. Last night, on Twitter, he posted photos and a video of the first prototype of a new smartphone whose name is still unknown.
New shape, new software
The new phone has a completely new shape. Manufacturers generally favour an 18:9 or even 21:9 format. The new smartphone is much narrower. The wrist times Pi and, based on the dimensions of this image, it should be around a 29:9 aspect ratio.
Source: twitter.com/aubin
The back is just as interesting. While the phone is very slim, you probably won't be able to use it with one hand. It's far too long for that. To prevent it from slipping, Essential has provided a small recess into which you can place your finger on the back of the phone. It should also act as a fingerprint reader.
The single camera sticks out slightly. The back of the phone seems to rely more on gentle curves rather than angles, like the Essential PH-1. The colour palette isn't definitive yet, but it looks like the phone won't be available in black. Here are the colours, dubbed "GEM Colorshift material" by Rubin, in which the prototypes - obviously fully functional - are expected to ship:
- green
- orange
- red or pink
- blue
Rubin has announced that the device's software will have a brand new interface. He shows it off in another picture.
Source: twitter.com/arubin
We can assume that the software is a distribution of Android.
We don't know its name or release date
Source: twitter.com/essential
At the moment, that's all we know about the phone. The company's official Twitter account Essential Products got the ball rolling again a few hours ago. Under the hashtag #ProjectGEM, the company posted more photos and announced that the phone will "change our perspective of the smartphone".
Source: twitter.com/essential
The hashtag could reveal the device's future name. PH-1 is not a model name that can simply be picked up, as it is a pun. PH-1 → PH-One → Phone. So PH-2 certainly makes sense as the successor to PH-1, but the pun isn't there. Can we deduce from this that the new phone will be called "Gem", which means "precious stone"?
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