Andy Rubin’s Essential has acquired CloudMagic, makers of the Newton email app, for an undisclosed sum. The news, first reported this morning, has since been confirmed by TechCrunch. An Essential spokesperson offered the following admittedly open-ended statement, “We are always on the lookout for companies with great technology and talent to help accelerate our product […]
View More Essential acquires email startup CloudMagicCategory: essential
Essential’s $149 magnetic dongle will bring back your headphone jack
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We know, you miss your headphone jack.
Like other smartphones, the Essential Phone has done away with the feature, but the company has just launched its long-touted external headphone adapter and DAC, which magnetically snaps on to the back of your phone.
And it ain’t cheap: The Audio Adapter HD will set you back an eye-watering $149.
Audio Adapter HD is here. A limited-edition DAC for Essential Phone, delivering one of the best mobile audio experiences available today.
Shop now (US & Canada): https://t.co/elFOmC523z pic.twitter.com/eKYyYocm4K
— Essential (@essential) November 13, 2018 Read more…
More about Smartphones, Dongle, Essential, Essential Phone, and Tech
View More Essential’s $149 magnetic dongle will bring back your headphone jackEssential lays off nearly one-third of its staff
Layoffs are never an easy pill to swallow, but for Essential, it seems the writing was on the wall for a while with this one. After months of reports highlighting its struggles, the Andy Rubin-led smartphone startup has announced some major layoffs. All told, the company will be losing around 30 percent of its staff. […]
View More Essential lays off nearly one-third of its staffThe creator of Android is building a phone that’ll text and send emails for you
What will the smartphone of the future look like?
Foldable phones are holograms are certainly a possibility, but if you’re Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, the killer feature for tomorrow’s phone might be an AI that’s able text for you.
SEE …
Essential discounts its 360 Camera to $19, a day after its phone was half-off
At $250, the Essential Phone was arguably the best deal of Amazon Prime Day. Which is saying a lot. But no matter how you slice it, 50 percent off an Android flagship is a pretty tough deal to beat. I know of at least one TechCruncher who couldn’t resist the lure of that kind of […]
View More Essential discounts its 360 Camera to $19, a day after its phone was half-offEssential is releasing a wired headphone jack accessory
Essential has been nearly radio silent since reports surfaced late last month that Andy Rubin was looking for a buyer for his hardware startup. The company didn’t really confirm or deny the rumors — or say much else for that matter. A few weeks later, the company does have some news — but it’s not […]
View More Essential is releasing a wired headphone jack accessoryAndy Rubin’s Essential is reportedly up for sale and has cancelled work on its next smartphone
Essential, the smartphone company helmed by Android co-creator Andy Rubin is trying to sell itself and has cancelled development of its next phone, Bloomberg reports. The report states the Essential has hired Credit Suisse Group AG to advise them on potentially selling itself. The company raised $330 million from investors including Rubin’s own Playground Global, […]
View More Andy Rubin’s Essential is reportedly up for sale and has cancelled work on its next smartphoneEssential’s first handset is coming to more markets
It’s hard launching a phone company — something Essential was pretty candid about from the start. Andy Rubin’s latest endeavor got off to something of a slow start, according to outside accounts, but today the well-funded hardware startup is getting ready to add a whole bunch of new markets to its online store. On Twitter […]
View More Essential’s first handset is coming to more marketsEssential is working on getting rid of the notch
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Essential Phone had the notch before the iPhone X was even out — and a far smaller one, too. However, unlike some other Android phone makers, which are adding a notch to their phone just to make them more similar to the iPhone, Essential is already trying to get rid of it completely.
This is according to an interesting patent originally filed by Essential in February 2017 and dug up by TechCrunch. In it, Essential describes a system that places the camera lens below the screen.
The idea is simple. Since the LCD screen could be made out of elements that are mostly transparent, one could place the camera below a “substantially transparent” part of the screen and have the phone disable that part of the screen when a photo is being taken. Read more…
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Essential really wants to solve the screen notch problem
In a way, Essential is something of a pioneer. Before the iPhone X helped the world reluctantly embrace the screen notch, the company proudly displayed one atop its first flagship. Since then, of course, it’s become a feature, not a bug, with a long list of companies rushing to embrace it on their latest flagship. But Essential’s clearly hoping to solve the issue with a number… Read More
Essential reportedly only shipped 88,000 phones in 2017
Essential knew it had a hard road ahead of it. Andy Rubin and company acknowledged as much when they launched a handset aimed at taking on the likes of Apple and Samsung. Given that the company hasn’t issued anything in the way of official numbers thus far, a new batch of numbers from IDC are the best we have to go on at the moment — and things don’t look great. Read More
Andy Rubin is back at Essential after leave of absence following reports of improper behavior
Essential smartphone startup founder Andy Rubin, who took a leave of absence last month in light of allegations of an improper relationship at his previous employer, has returned to work, Recode reports. Citing sources, Recode reports Rubin’s personal leave ended Friday. At the time of his leave, Rubin said he was taking time off to “deal with personal matters.” His decision… Read More