Tech

There's a mysterious bump that looks like a 360-degree camera on Android founder's new phone

Key Points
  • Andy Rubin's new smartphone has a weird bump
  • We're pretty sure it's a 360-degree camera
  • The smartphone will be unveiled on May 30


Andy Rubin's Essential firm just posted another teaser image of a new smartphone that it will unveil on May 30.

See the tweet here

Although the image is too dark to see details, it's got a large round hump on top.

We threw it into Photoshop and tried to adjust the image to get a better look. Here's what it looks like with a little more light:

The mysterious bump could be anything, but our best guess is that it's some sort of 360-degree camera attachment — that sort of thing could snap off if it were permanent -- for shooting surround images and video. It could be very useful for augmented or virtual reality applications. Apple is also rumored to be incorporating AR into its next iPhone.

Rubin teased that functionality back in April -- check out the computer screen in his tweet, which shows a 360-degree camera view.

Check out Rubin's teaser

Andy Rubin is no stranger to innovation. He's the father of Android, after all, which is why all eyes are going to be on him and his new company Essential on May 30.

--Additional sleuthing by Jordan Novet