“Father of Android” phone dream is broken

On February 13, Essential officially announced that it would stop operation and shut down the company. The star phone company, founded by Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, has been a star, but it has fallen into the abyss.

As part of the company wind down, the security update for PH-1 released on February 3 is the last update from the Essential software team. Your PH-1 will continue to work but we will not be providing any additional updates or customer support.

The February 3rd Essential Phone PH1 update is the last update from the base software team, according to the announcement on the website. The company will no longer provide updates and customer support. And the rumored feature phone Project GEM, also closed with the company, I’m afraid will be forever rumors.

Quit Google, set up Essential to create a legend

On October 30, 2014, Google announced that Andy Rubin, co-founder of the Android operating system and former head of the Android business, is stepping down from Google.

Andy Rubin founded the smartphone-focused tech company in 2015 after leaving Google.

With “Father of Android” and “Apple’s most feared person”, Essential has successively obtained investments from Foxconn, Tencent, Red Dot Capital and other institutions. It raised $330 million and was valued at $1.2 billion at its peak, making it one of the unicorns.

Essential Phone PH-1

Two years after the founding of Essential, the company released its first product –Essential Phone PH-1 in 2017.

The phone was highly anticipated by the tech press before its release. In a year when mobile products have become increasingly homogenous, the PH-1 is a beacon of hope to “reshape Android in the right direction.” The snapdragon 835’s early use of a “beautiful” open-hole display, the snapdragon 835’s top-of-the-line processor, and the first Android 9 Pie updates have won some users over.

However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. This is the phone that everyone is hoping for. Because of the $699 price tag, the screen breaks easily, the camera shoots slowly, and the Internet stops streaming. The phenomenon of good but not popular. Only 88,000 Essential phones were shipped in 2017, according to IDC. With the same period of domestic some rice, some are very big gap. Not to mention the fact that the company plans to launch the iPhone and The Google Pixel in a completely different way!

Essential Phone PH-1, it can be said that the beginning of the death before the body. Just as the comments of foreign media: although there is a breakthrough, there is no innovation, and the imperfection of functional experience is the most deadly. At the end of 2018, officials said the Essential Phone was discontinued and a new one was in development.

The mysterious Phone Gem has become a legend

Despite the failure of a generation of products, Essential is still strong. The official new Phone under development is Phone Gem, internal code: Project Gem.

According to the news, the machine design greatly breaks through the shackles of the traditional smart phone, the screen is extremely slender.

Project GEM has spent at least $50 million on development, according to the New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter. Major U.S. mobile carriers, however, have shown little interest in the phone. Mobile operators have the absolute say in the distribution channels of mobile phones in the US, basically announcing the death of the phone.

On February 13, Essential officially announced that it would not be able to deliver the Gem.

Our vision is to invent a mobile computing paradigm that seamlessly integrates with people’s lifestyle needs. Despite our best efforts, unfortunately, we do not have a clear path to deliver Gem to customers. In light of this, we have taken the difficult decision to cease operations and close Essential.

The announcement was somberly, but a demo video of the device was released along the way, showing cameras, voice assistants and some app interactions.

Due to the hardware limitations of the screen, the input keyboard is the most distinctive, using a diagonal design. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a bizarre keyboard design for more than 20 years. Big man’s imagination. I don’t get it.

A few happy and a few worried

When we sigh for the father of Android, it is quite interesting that on the same day, Xiaomi, on the other side of the ocean, overcame the difficulties of the epidemic and released a dream work for its 10th anniversary. Rebus with the new breakthrough mi 10, to the high-end camp impact.

(Millet students, please inform lei: advertising fees hit)

Andy who failed to start his own business again

2020 has been a sad start to the year. Let’s take a quick break from the sad mood. A quick recap of Andy Rubin’s Essential journey: PH-1 went cold, there was a sex scandal, Gem shut down, the company shut down. Such a failure essentially declared the death of Android, the legendary creator of mobile phones, in handset manufacturing.

At the same time, it also reflects from the side that the current mobile phone industry is already a bloody red sea, even if the father of Android has not been able to break through the barrier of giants.

Finally, may the man who built our Android empire surprise us soon.

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Question of the day:

What do you think about Essential’s demise?

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