Troubled phone maker Essential Technologies Inc., the company founded by Android creator Andy Rubin, is apparently taking another stab at producing something people want to buy in the form of an artificially intelligent smartphone.

Having canceled plans for a second smartphone release in May, a report from Bloomberg claimed, Essential is now all-in on a “new kind of phone that will try to mimic the user and automatically respond to messages.”

In a throwback to the days of “smaller is better” in phones, the device is said to have a small screen that requires users to interact mainly using voice commands, in concert with Essential’s artificial intelligence software.

“The idea is for the product to book appointments or respond to emails and text messages on its own,” the report noted. “Users would also be able to make phone calls from the planned device.”

Although certainly sounding somewhat out there in a sea of ever-increasing large phones with multiple cameras, Rubin (pictured) is previously on record discussing the concept.

“If I can get to the point where your phone is a virtual version of you, you can be off enjoying your life, having that dinner, without touching your phone, and you can trust your phone to do things on your behalf,” he said in an interview in 2017. “I think I can solve part of the addictive behavior.”

Despite not being a household name, Rubin is arguably more influential in changing the world than Steve Jobs ever was. Android, as of 2017, had a global market share of 85 percent in just smartphones, a number that excludes the fact that Android is embedded in tablets, car stereos, smart home devices and more.

That said, despite raising $330 million, including $300 million in June 2017, Essential not only isn’t essential but it’s struggling.

Still, it’s too early to count Rubin out yet and the new device does sound interesting, so there may be a space for it. Many people wrote off the iPhone at its launch and yet today it’s regarded as a device that changed the world. Whether Rubin can deliver a world-changing device as opposed to an operating system is yet to be seen.

Photo: Joi/Wikimedia Commons