First look at the Essential phone from Android creator

Based on a first look, it doesn't. We listened to Rubin speak and spent some time with the Essential phone at the Code conference here. We now have a better idea of what issues Rubin's new phone is trying to solve than the ones kind of buried on the new Essential website. Rubin says he wants to "solve consumer problems" with both his new phone, out in June starting at $699, and other products down the line, such as an Amazon Echo-like speaker. For the Essential phone, Rubin and staffers say you won't need to buy the accessory protection because it's not needed.