Essential is going to make an announcement, per reclusive Andy Rubin

Today, on Twitter, Essential founder Andy Rubin said that the company will be making an announcement at some point in the near future (via Droid Life). He didn’t elaborate on what this announcement could be, but it’s the first we’ve heard from Rubin in quite a while, so it’s likely something fairly big.

Rubin has been very reclusive since October of last year when a scandal erupted surrounding several sexual harassment claims made against him while he worked at Google helping to develop the Android operating system. Those scandals eventually culminated in a 20,000-person-strong Google employee walkout.

Rubin has tweeted just four times since then. Today, though, he responded to a tweet with the below statement:

Rubin made a similar statement on the platform in April, when he told a fellow Twitter user that the company would “eventually” launch something “cool.” Today’s tweet is the first time that he’s been so forthright, though.

It’s possible — however unlikely — that there could be an Essential Phone 2 in the works. The original Essential Phone had a rocky start but is still receiving top-notch software support two years later. The most recent Android Q beta 4 landed on the Essential Phone just hours after it came to Pixel devices, and monthly security patches come just as quickly.

However, Essential reportedly canceled the development of the Essential Phone 2 due to weak sales of the original. It was then rumored that the company would be releasing an innovative new product that would not be a smartphone. Rumors pointed to that device launching at CES 2019 in January, but that didn’t happen.

In the meantime, all we can do is wait around to see what Essential will unveil. What do you think (or hope) it will be? Let us know in the comments!

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