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Ex iPhone Designers Hope to Replicate Essential (Andy Rubin) but with Positive Results
Essential Products was an American technology company and manufacturer founded on November 9, 2015 by Andy Rubin and based in Palo Alto. The company developed, manufactured, and sold Essential Phone and accessories for it, including 360 Camera for Essential Phone. The company closed on February 12, 2020, stating that it was developing a new handset, but that there was "no clear path to deliver it to customers". In March 2017, Rubin released an image that teased the unannounced smartphone on his Twitter account. On May 25, the company teased a second image of the smartphone on its Twitter account.[10] On May 30, the company announced both the smartphone, the Essential Phone, and its smart speaker, Essential Home. In August 2017, it was reported that Amazon, Tencent andFoxconn have invested in Essential Products In August 2017, the company was valued as a unicorn. On May 25, 2018, the company cancelled its next flagship and was reported to be for sale. In December 2018, Essential acquired CloudMagic, owner of the mobile email app Newton. In October 2019, Essential teased an upcoming replacement for the PH-1 called the 'Gem'. This device would have a much more slender form factor than its predecessor, would rely mostly on voice control, and would utilize advanced AI for processing the voice control input. But the new product never hit the market, as on February 12, 2020, the company announced that it was ceasing operations because there was "no clear way to deliver ['Gem'] to customers".
In 2017, two of Apple’s top design and technology executives left the company with an ambitious vision: to create the next big computing paradigm. That startup, called Humane, is now announcing that it has raised $30 million in a series A round of venture funding to continue developing its mysterious product. While cofounders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno refuse to reveal what they’re working on, its cofounders seem to believe it will have the same kind of impact as the iPhone—which is saying a lot, given that one of them designed the iPhone’s original interface.
Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, said “We are at a point in terms of computing platforms where there’s a certain level of maturation that’s led to a decline in innovation,” says Humane president and chairman Chaudhri, who worked on the UI design of the iPhone and the iPad during his 21 years at Apple. “For us, it’s really about how we actually bring vitality and how we bring a new opportunity to computing. How do we move the needle?” The startup’s ambitions derive in part from Chaudhri reckoning with the downsides of the products he was instrumental in creating—particularly the ways in which smartphones can nag at and monopolize our attention while siphoning away private data for corporations to profit from. They’re betting that the time is right for a new, less invasive way to interface with computers. It’s a compelling vision, despite the lack of details. “Every product, especially in computing, has a limitation in terms of how far it can go, what it can do before it starts to really become exhausted. That’s exhausted in terms of creativity, exhausted in terms of usefulness, exhausted in terms of the experience of using it as well,” Chaudhri says. “This is a cyclical thing that’s always occurred. Some people from a certain perspective call it a 15-year cycle. We’re coming on that for the smartphone.”
While the duo originally planned to raise funds the week after the pandemic lockdown began in San Francisco, they ultimately ended up taking meetings with investors in June. Within 10 days, they had found their next partners: Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator and the CEO of AI-development organization OpenAI, and Lachy Groom, an entrepreneur, angel investor, and early employee at Stripe. These two investors are contributing most of the series A round, while a small syndicate of other investors, including Marc Benioff, Valia Ventures, Plexo Capital, and Kindred Ventures, make up the rest. “I thought the team was exceptional and their vision for a new computing platform and what that would mean for the world as a whole, combined with their expertise delivering on super ambitious things like this . . . it was something I was excited to see and immediately wanted to be part of,” Altman says. Bongiorno says the company plans to announce the details before the end of next year. Groom provided a small hint: “It was one of those things that only seems obvious in hindsight,” he says.
Essential Products was an American technology company and manufacturer founded on November 9, 2015 by Andy Rubin and based in Palo Alto. The company developed, manufactured, and sold Essential Phone and accessories for it, including 360 Camera for Essential Phone. The company closed on February 12, 2020, stating that it was developing a new handset, but that there was "no clear path to deliver it to customers". In March 2017, Rubin released an image that teased the unannounced smartphone on his Twitter account. On May 25, the company teased a second image of the smartphone on its Twitter account.[10] On May 30, the company announced both the smartphone, the Essential Phone, and its smart speaker, Essential Home. In August 2017, it was reported that Amazon, Tencent andFoxconn have invested in Essential Products In August 2017, the company was valued as a unicorn. On May 25, 2018, the company cancelled its next flagship and was reported to be for sale. In December 2018, Essential acquired CloudMagic, owner of the mobile email app Newton. In October 2019, Essential teased an upcoming replacement for the PH-1 called the 'Gem'. This device would have a much more slender form factor than its predecessor, would rely mostly on voice control, and would utilize advanced AI for processing the voice control input. But the new product never hit the market, as on February 12, 2020, the company announced that it was ceasing operations because there was "no clear way to deliver ['Gem'] to customers".
In 2017, two of Apple’s top design and technology executives left the company with an ambitious vision: to create the next big computing paradigm. That startup, called Humane, is now announcing that it has raised $30 million in a series A round of venture funding to continue developing its mysterious product. While cofounders Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno refuse to reveal what they’re working on, its cofounders seem to believe it will have the same kind of impact as the iPhone—which is saying a lot, given that one of them designed the iPhone’s original interface.
Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, said “We are at a point in terms of computing platforms where there’s a certain level of maturation that’s led to a decline in innovation,” says Humane president and chairman Chaudhri, who worked on the UI design of the iPhone and the iPad during his 21 years at Apple. “For us, it’s really about how we actually bring vitality and how we bring a new opportunity to computing. How do we move the needle?” The startup’s ambitions derive in part from Chaudhri reckoning with the downsides of the products he was instrumental in creating—particularly the ways in which smartphones can nag at and monopolize our attention while siphoning away private data for corporations to profit from. They’re betting that the time is right for a new, less invasive way to interface with computers. It’s a compelling vision, despite the lack of details. “Every product, especially in computing, has a limitation in terms of how far it can go, what it can do before it starts to really become exhausted. That’s exhausted in terms of creativity, exhausted in terms of usefulness, exhausted in terms of the experience of using it as well,” Chaudhri says. “This is a cyclical thing that’s always occurred. Some people from a certain perspective call it a 15-year cycle. We’re coming on that for the smartphone.”
While the duo originally planned to raise funds the week after the pandemic lockdown began in San Francisco, they ultimately ended up taking meetings with investors in June. Within 10 days, they had found their next partners: Sam Altman, former president of Y Combinator and the CEO of AI-development organization OpenAI, and Lachy Groom, an entrepreneur, angel investor, and early employee at Stripe. These two investors are contributing most of the series A round, while a small syndicate of other investors, including Marc Benioff, Valia Ventures, Plexo Capital, and Kindred Ventures, make up the rest. “I thought the team was exceptional and their vision for a new computing platform and what that would mean for the world as a whole, combined with their expertise delivering on super ambitious things like this . . . it was something I was excited to see and immediately wanted to be part of,” Altman says. Bongiorno says the company plans to announce the details before the end of next year. Groom provided a small hint: “It was one of those things that only seems obvious in hindsight,” he says.
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