The Essential Phone is now available through TELUS

If you’ve been waiting for the release of the Essential Phone, the wait is over. Here in Canada, the unit is being offered exclusively by TELUS. It comes in Black Moon and goes for $1,050 if you get it without a plan or for $290 for a $95 per month, two-year plan or $490 for a $95 per month, two-year plan. As GSMArena reports, the Camera app on this device just got an update, which fixes an issue with saving 360-degree videos. It also boosted speed of color/mono image fusion as well as other general stability fixes.

The Essential Phone gets better quality photos from a modified Google Camera APK

Left: Essential Camera; Right: Google Camera with HDR+

The reviews for the Essential Phone have started to come in and what we’ve been seeing so far is criticism towards the camera quality of the new device. But it doesn’t seem to be because of the camera sensor itself but something more to do with Essential’s camera software. The Next Web’s Napier Lopez reviewed the device and he installed a modified Google Camera APK that works with most Snapdragon 820+ phones into the Essential Phone to check whether it’s a hardware or software issue. And he found better quality photos on it, which means, the issue lies on software. The good thing about that is, software can be remedied. Let’s hope Essential works on that soon, and we know they already have enough issues to deal with now.

Essential debuts home assistant, too

While all eyes were on the Essential Phone during its launch, there is another product coming out of the startup lead by Android co-founder Andy Rubin. It’s a smart home assistant that wants to take on Google, Apple, and Amazon. Aptly called Home, this intelligent assistant features a circular design reminiscent of Nest thermostats. Its display can be activated by either voice commands, a tap of a finger, or just looking at it.

Essential claims the AI in Home is a lot smarter than its rivals. It can do things like turn down the volume when it notices you conversing with someone. It’ll take note of your routines and alert you when “something feels off or if a light is left on,” among other features. These features will be part of the new Ambient OS platform. Essential won’t say if it runs on Android but we won’t be surprised if it is. There is no word yet on price and availability

Source: Engadget

Android co-creator Andy Rubin teases bezel-less smartphone

The co-creator of Android, Andy Rubin, left Google back in 2014 and has put up his own company called Essential in January of this year. Now, he's teasing what looks like the company's first smartphone. And it is quite eye-catching to say the least. It's looking to be a completely bezel-less device from the top. Whether that extends to the bottom is something we don't know at the moment. 

This smartphone is supposed to be part of a first wave of devices Essential plans to launch. Rumour has it Rubin plans to launch a smartphone mid-2017 that will have a larger display than the Apple iPhone 7 Plus but will have a smaller form factor because of the lack of bezels. It'll also supposedly have metal edges and a ceramic back. Essential is supposedly in talks with Foxconn to build the smartphone. Perhaps this is it and if it is, then we might be seeing it pretty soon. 

I'm really excited about how this is shaping up.  Eager to get it in more people's hands... pic.twitter.com/LRzQCFSKTm

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) March 27, 2017

Source: The Next Web