Andy Rubin, the man who gave us Android, and later created the Essential phone is now shutting down the company after claiming it “regrettably doesn’t have no clear path to deliver it to customers.”
The first Essential smartphone made its debut back in 2017, and ever since then, Rubin and Co. have found it hard to manufacture products at a production scale that would meet the demands of buyers across the globe.
The company has launched a slew of phones, and they even teased another oddly-shaped device but with the brand closing shop, we’re unlikely to see the product after this.
The prototype images were posted by Rubin which showed a very narrow candy bar-style touchscreen device that was expected to be the next Essential Phone.
In addition to this, Essential has confirmed that existing users of its PH-1 got their last software update on 3 February, and after this, it will not be providing any additional updates or customer support to them.
“To the Essential and Newton Mail communities, we offer our deepest thanks for your support and passion for our vision. You motivated us, kept us on our toes and made it all worthwhile.”Essential blog post
Speaking about the PH-1 smartphone, it was one of the first device to get a notch-based design with an edge-to-edge display.
The phone carried a modular design with an attachment for a 360-degree camera, touted to be the world’s thinnest 360-degree snapper. The phone was powered by Snapdragon 835 processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM, offering up to 128GB storage. It came with a 3040mAh battery, offered 13 + 13 megapixel dual rear cameras, and an 8 megapixel front shooter.
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