Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential

Essential

What ever happened to the Essential phone? I've been asking myself that question for weeks. Andy Rubin, the founder of Android, went public with a new smartphone company in May to great fanfare, and its first product, the Essential phone, looked like a slim-bezel wonder with a quirky front camera placement that cut into the screen. The body was titanium and ceramic, the specs were high-end with a Snapdragon 835, and it was yet another phone with a wacky modular accessory system. Rubin himself promised that the device would be released by June 30, but that date came and went without a peep from Essential. Then July passed. Now it's August.

Now, it seems like Essential is finally ready to launch. Company President Niccolo De Masi promised The Wall Street Journal that an "exact" release date will be announced next week. Rubin took to Twitter to show off some pictures of the assembly lines, where you can see the body being milled out of titanium.

We are in full mass production, ramping up to deliver your Essential Phone. Find out where you can get yours next week! #thisisessential pic.twitter.com/CYrhTMSt1g — Andy Rubin (@Arubin) August 9, 2017

One thing that will help Essential get to production is the $300 million investment that was first reported by Bloomberg in June. Essential confirmed the announcement to The Wall Street Journal, and Amazon and Chinese powerhouse Tencent Holdings Ltd proved to be the main investors. Amazon's investment comes from "The Alexa Fund," a VC fund designed to kickstart devices that run Amazon's voice software. Does this mean the Essential Phone will come with Alexa onboard?

The $699 device will be sold at its exclusive US carrier partner, Sprint (insert "womp womp" noise here), along with an unlocked version available at Amazon, Best Buy, and Essential.com.