According to the publication's sources, Essential's new phone will have a small display and it will be a device that is built primarily to work with voice commands.

Furthermore, Essential plans to market the device as a companion to your primary phone, or as a phone for people who want to curb their smartphone addiction.

New rumors indicate tell us that Essential is working on a new device to "free users" from their smartphones with artificial intelligence as its main tool. This AI would be able to respond to emails and text messages on its own and book appointments for you.

Andy Rubin's ambitious Essential Products startup has been essentially inactive for over a year now, merely promising (and delivering) robust software support for its rookie smartphone effort, which never found the mainstream success envisioned by its creator. There were reports of a home speaker in the making but it was canceled as well. Rubin would like to capture people's imagination with a product that's truly different from alternatives. A spokeswoman for Essential declined to comment. It might also help in solving "part of the (smartphone) addictive behavior". "If I can get to the point where your phone is a virtual version of you, you can be off enjoying your life, having that dinner, without touching your phone, and you can trust your phone to do things on your behalf", he said.

Although novel, the concept faces many practical challenges.

There was a lot of excitement around the Essential Phone, Andy Rubin's daring smartphone, last year.

Instead, Essential reportedly feels confident a first prototype of this super-advanced AI phone will be finished by the end of the year, possibly eyeing a demo behind closed doors at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2019.