Essential shows signs of life with $ 149 headphone dongle



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Essential is not dead, not yet at least. The handset maker from Android co-founder Andy Rubin, who's now at the center of an explosive controversy over the mishandling of sexual harassment claims, has quietly released its next product. It's the $ 149 magnetic headphone jack adapter Essential promised way back in September 2017. The company first announced in June that it would not be possible to buy it.

The product is officially called the Audio Adapter HD, and it's quite pricey at $ 149, which is about 30 percent of the cost of the phone itself – not counting the discount you can get at Amazon, Best Buy, and other retailers. The price seems to be both because it is a magnetic module for the Essential Phone, and also because it supposedly supports "studio quality audio performance" and an "audiophile-grade amp that can drive audiophile-grade headphones."

It's not clear the art will be a big hit. Essential has suffered from anemic sales of its first phone, with around 90,000 units sold in the first six months. It has been reported that it has already been reported to have a hard time in the past, and it has not yet been implemented.

That product would appear to be an artificial intelligence-powered phone with software that automates tasks like responding to messages and booking appointments. Rubin once described the grand vision last year as "a virtual version of you," and Bloomberg reported that the device is in active development as of October.

Rubin reportedly returned in the last year of the year. It is currently unclear that it is still running the day-to-day operations of the company following a bombshell New York Times $ 90 million to leave the company quietly in 2014.

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