Since launching the Essential Phone back in 2017, the company led by Android co-founder Andy Rubin hasn"t had any big new devices to share with the world. The company has done a good job of supporting the original PH-1 with new Android updates, and rumors have surfaced before regarding potential successors, but solid plans have never been formally announced.
That"s not changing today, but Andy Rubin, who is still CEO of the company, shared a series of images of a "radically different form factor" on Twitter. The device in question features a very tall aspect ratio for the display, bearing more resemblance to a TV controller than a smartphone. One of the tweets also shows off a "GEM Colorshift material", which provides some mesmerizing colors depending on how you look at it.
Unfortunately, beyond the images themselves, Rubin has provided no sort of information regarding the devices, including they will be a real product anytime soon. The images do show what appear to be some apps running on the device, as well as a task switcher. It"s not clear what OS is on the device, though. It"s also not clear if this is a project coming from Essential, or some other project from Rubin.
Prior to today"s tweets, Andy Rubin had been fairly quiet on Twitter for nearly a year, after allegations regarding sexual misconduct at Google surfaced, involving Rubin and other workers at the Mountain View giant. We"ll have to wait and see if the Essential CEO will stick around long enough to explain what the devices in the images are.
Update: Essential has confirmed via its own Twitter account that this is a new device from the company. The device aims to "reframe your perspective on mobile", and it"s being tested internally within the company right now.