Around a year ago Essential, the company founded by Android creator Andy Rubin, revealed an Amazon Echo-style smart speaker dubbed the "Home." However, if Bloomberg is correct, the device might never make it to market.
According to Bloomberg, Essential is in trouble-- so much so it is "considering selling itself," with Credit Suisse helping with the sale. Such a deal would cover the entire company, including its patent portfolio and hardware products such as the Essential smartphone and the aforementioned Home speaker. Also "likely" to be part of the deal is the Essential stable of engineering talent, whose members include ex-Apple and Google hires.
So far Rubin has replied to the Bloomberg story via Twitter, posting “We always have multiple products in development at the same time and we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits. We are putting all of our efforts towards our future, game-changing products, which include mobile and home products.”
The Essential Phone was a much hyped rival to flagship smartphones from the likes of Apple and Samsung. However it cost $100 million to develop and, with a $699 price tag, failed to help the company recoup such costs. As a result, according to Bloomberg Essential canceled development of a sequel, instead shifting engineers and resources to "an upcoming smart home product." Maybe a reference the Home?
The Home is, at least on paper, an interesting device-- a smart speaker with a round "auto display" users can activate via either voice, tap or a "glance." Like the Amazon Echo or Google Home it accepts voice commands, and can handle the user's schedule. Powering it is Ambient OS, a smart home operating system that sounds a lot like IFTTT.
As the company put it, Ambient OS could "activate" the home by understanding the understanding the physical layout of the house, occupants and what services and devices are available. It is also described as an "API" to all these things in combination,(such as flashing lights when a timer goes off). Making it even more interesting is a focus on security, since it runs locally inside the Home device, with no connection to the cloud required.
So, what can happen to Essential? The best case scenario has it find an investor willing to help it bring the Home to market. At worst it gets swallowed by a rival for the talent and patents, before closing the story of a promising product before it could even start.