Android founder teases new 'Essential' smartphone in tweet

Andy Rubin, the co-founder and former CEO of Android Inc., tweeted about his new smartphone company named 'Essential.' Tweet The photo features a smartphone which appears to have an edge-to-edge front screen, a feature that Samsung's Galaxy 8 will also offer. The new smartphone could serve as a real market competitor for Samsung and Apple. It's even speculated that Apple may have strongly influenced telecommunications company SoftBank to pull out $100 million of funding from Rubin's new project. Rubin has a firm comprised of industry vets from Google, HTC, Samsung, and Apple. The tweet promises that the unveiling and launch of 'Essential' will be right around the corner, possibly debuting before the iPhone 8 in September.