Here’s our first look at the new smartphone from the creator of Android

Think there are too many smartphones on the market? Get ready for one more, though don't write this one off just yet.

Andy Rubin, best known as the creator of Android, has today shown off a fragment of a phone he's reportedly developing, teasing we'll see the new device go on sale before long.

We first heard inkling of the new phone in January, when it was reported Rubin had formed a company called Essential. The handset, described at the time as high-end, is said to be the marquee device in a number of rumored consumer products from Essential.

Here's our first look at the phone, with Rubin noting he's "eager to get it in more people's hands":

According to the January report, Essential's phone has an edge-to-edge display, no bezel, a ceramic back and a charging port that lets users add-on hardware accessories. The phone is also said to be backed by a robust artificial intelligence. 

While today's image doesn't vouch for everything, it does show us a phone with barely any bezel and a display that stretches almost to the edges. 

It looks like a sleek, flagship-type device, one that could potentially compete with the likes of iPhone, Google Pixel and the soon-to-be-announced Samsung Galaxy S8.

Though we get a glimmer of the phone's screen, it's hard to speculate whether the phone is running on Android or an operating system developed by Essential in-house. That remains a key question surrounding the phone.

Other questions, of course, are when the device will launch and for how much. It was previously reported Rubin's phone could go on sale by mid-year at a cost that rivals the iPhone 7 price of $649/£599/AU$1,079.

Will Rubin give us more bait to chew soon, or is this our last look before a reveal? When building hype for a brand-new phone, our bet is on more hints dropping before it becomes official.

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from TechRadar: Phone and communications news http://www.techradar.com/news/heres-our-first-look-at-the-new-smartphone-from-the-creator-of-android