How Andy Rubin's Essential is different from other smartphone companies

Andy Rubin sees a problem with smartphones. They're boring. They're fragmented. The companies that make them aren't as well-suited at advancing technologies around them as they should be.

Rubin invented Android, so he admits to some responsibility at creating this problem. That's no doubt part of the reason he chose to create a new company, Essential, which unveiled its first products — a smartphone, a "home device" (what the tech industry seems to be calling speaker hubs like the Amazon Echo), and a 360 camera accessory. Rubin explained what his plan is at the annual Code Conference to Recode's Walt Mossberg. Read more...