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Essential promotes software lead Rebecca Zavin to Chief Technology Officer

Since launch, Essential has noticeably improved the software experience of its flagship Phone, while pushing out monthly security patches and Android P Betas in line with Google. The company today promoted the vice president tasked with software engineering to Chief Technology Officer.

Rebecca Zavin worked at Google for over 10 years before joining Essential as its Vice President of Software Engineering in February 2016. As a Senior Staff Software Engineer at Google, she worked on the Android Systems team responsible for the Linux kernel and other low-level software.

At Essential, Zavin led software development and was a presence during the company’s AMA sessions on Reddit where she answered questions ranging from bugs, scrolling performance, and the camera, as well as the Android betas.

Zavin’s team has been excellent at delivering Android’s monthly security before or shortly after Google, while the later Android P Betas have often dropped on the same day as Google’s releases.

As Chief Technology Officer, she will be “leading and building the engineering team.” Her promotion comes as Essential reportedly canceled development on the PH-2. However, even without a next generation phone, the company is still working on its Home product and ecosystem.

A sale has been rumored, but the company has reiterated its commitment to supporting the current hardware with two years of software updates, and three years of security patches. Essential is still selling the PH-1, often at an immense discount, and just announced a Summer Bundle today.


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Avatar for Abner Li Abner Li

Editor-in-chief. Interested in the minutiae of Google and Alphabet. Tips/talk: abner@9to5g.com