OSOM, team behind Essential, to launch first phone in Summer 2022

The team behind the Essential smartphone company is now working on a new product.

In an interview with Android Police, Jason Keats, the CEO and founder of OSOM Products, a company that features people primarily from the Essential team, is finally ready to speak about the OV1, OSOM’s first smartphone.

According to Android Police, the name OV1 (OSOM Vault 1) is a throwback to the Essential PH-1. OSOM itself stands for “out of sight, out of mind,” but you say it like “awesome.” The “out of sight, out of mind” phrase has to do with privacy, as OV1 is a privacy-first smartphone.

This device won’t be modular like the Essential Ph-1, however. “Dear God, the headaches we had,” said Keats in the interview with Android Police.

What’s interesting about the OV1 is Dave Evans, the leader of the design team at Essential, is also part of OSOM. According to Keats, the smartphone will feature “throwback” surprises.

“One of the things that hurt Essential was, it wasn’t entirely clear what the point of Essential was, what we were building for, and that hurt us. Ultimately, that was probably the biggest — for all the other issues, that was probably the biggest thing that prevented us from being successful. And so we sat down and said, ‘What is something we can address?’ And we said, ‘Well, I’m really annoyed at how much my phone and other companies know what I’m doing,” said Keats to Android Police.

The phone will run stock-like Android with some customization on top, including better control of the content being shared. OSOM has reportedly made deep modifications to Android and worked with Google to make sure that it still meets all GSM and MADA requirements.

In terms of specs, not much has been revealed about the OV1.

Keats and the OSOM team plan to launch the smartphone in Summer 2022.

Image credit: Android Police

Source: Android Police