Essential, the startup from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, announced its first smartphone earlier today. The new company didn’ t stop there, however, as it also introduced an intelligent home assistant called the Essential Home.<\/b>
\nEssential, the startup from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, announced its first smartphone earlier today. The new company didn\u2019 t stop there, however, as it also introduced an intelligent home assistant called the Essential Home.
The device, powered by Essential\u2019s Ambient OS, is similar in concept to products like Amazon Echo and Google Home, allowing users to gather information, play music, control connected lights, set times and more with ease.
Essential says it is focused on delivering a home assistant that you\u2019 ll actually be proud to display in your home as there are \u201cno boxes, tubes or strange lights\u201d to contend with. The puck-shaped gizmo, which loosely resembles a Nest thermostat, features a sizable, interactive display although you can also interface with it using your voice (or even simply by glancing at it) .
The Essential Home can also proactively help you manage your life. For example, it can notify you if you need to leave the house early to make an important meeting or if you\u2019 re on the verge of forgetting your anniversary. Google said at its recent I\/O conference that similar functionality is heading to Google Home.
Dwipal Desai, business unit lead for Home devices at Essential, points out that Essential Home is designed to perform most tasks locally over your in-home network (whenever possible) so your \u201cdata stays in your home where it belongs\u201d versus pushing everything out to the cloud.
The Essential Home intelligent assistant is expected to ship later this year. Pricing and additional details are pending.<\/p>\n

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Similarity rank: 5.4<\/div>\n

Sentiment rank: 1.6<\/div>\n

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