Essential Phone: 5 interesting things you should know

New Delhi: A creator of the Android software powering smartphones around the world steps into the hardware market with a handset that promises to tackle the clutter, complexity and rapid obsolescence of current devices.

Here are 5 interesting things you should know about the Essential Phone

1. Andy Rubin has made the smartphone. Rubin was a co-founder of Android, which Google bought in 2005. But he left the company about three years ago to launch a fund devoted to cultivating hardware technology startups.

2. Among the key features, the phone has 5.7 inch screen with Corning Gorilla Glass, Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor clocked at 2.45GHz, 4 GB RAM, 128GB of internal storage, 3040 mAh battery, fingerprint sensor and zero headphone jack.

3. The Essential phone comes with accessories such as a 360-camera that can be attached magnetically.

4. The Essential smartphones will first be released in the United States, where they can be reserved at the website www.essential.com for $699. The 360-camera can be ordered for an additional $50.

5. Essential is creating a new "Ambient" operating system to power the home assistant. Rubin said the goal is to make it capable of interacting with the broad array of smart appliances or household gadgets no matter which company makes them.