Despite underwhelming sales, Andy Rubin’s startup Essential isn’t playing games when it comes to updates. In the company’s latest Reddit AMA, it discusses the latest features coming to the Essential Phone, and there are some fun goodies in store…
One of the biggest questions that still surrounds the PH-1 is camera quality. Essential has put a lot of work into making the camera better and while it’s still not fully fixed it, things are certainly improving.
In this AMA, quite a few users wanted to know what the company had planned for improving video, specifically when it comes to implementing EIS (electronic image stabilization). Thankfully, this is indeed on the company’s roadmap, but there’s no ETA as of yet.
Further, users wanted more information on Android Oreo and Project Treble. Essential was more than happy to confirm that the second beta for Oreo on the Essential Phone will actually be coming next week, but Project Treble won’t be arriving with 8.0. Rather, the company is holding that one for its coming Android 8.1 upgrade. It’s also worth noting that users on the 8.0 beta 1 will receive an OTA to beta 2.
Another nice addition Essential has in store for later software updates is “double tap to wake.” Originally used by LG, this feature has become a welcome addition to any phone, so it’ll be nice to see it on the PH-1. Unfortunately, this feature has no ETA just yet.
One of the other noteworthy things Essential discussed in this AMA was the touch response issues that have plagued this device. The company assures users that it is still working on a fix, but the hardware used is giving them trouble.
We are working diligently on it. As we mentioned in our previous AMAs It’s a challenging issue to resolve given our touch panel HW 60hz sample rate. Because of this, there are trade offs in software we are investigating to improve latency without affecting overall touch performance. We want to make sure we get this right and not introduce new touch problems with a hasty fix but I can assure you its an issues our engineering and touch partners are working with us daily to resolve.
You can catch up on all of Essential’s answers over on the original AMA thread over on Reddit.
Check out 9to5Google on YouTube for more news:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments