Android Creator Launches a Phone of His Own

a company founded by Andy Rubin, the "father of Android," on Tuesday pulled off the wraps on a new high-end smartphone.

The Essential Phone, priced at US$699, includes radios for connecting to all major U.S. carriers.

The unit has an almost edge-to-edge display (there's a bit of bezel at the bottom of its screen) that wraps around the 8-MP selfie camera at the front.

Built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, the Essential Phone comes with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

For durability, the phone has a titanium and ceramic body, which allows it to survive drops with nary a blemish, according to the company