After promising to deliver his new Essential Phone in June, Essential founder Andy Rubin today said that the device would ship in a few weeks.

And he told me personally via email!

OK, just kidding: The email was sent to everyone who signed up to purchase the device back in late May or early June.

“I personally wanted to thank you for putting your name down for our first phone,” Mr. Rubin’s email reads. “We’ve been hard at work getting everything ready and the good news is that we’re now going through certification and testing with multiple US and international carriers.”

“You might be getting impatient to get your hands on your new Essential Phone (and I’m also impatient to get it to you!),” the email continues, “but rest assured that you will have a device in your hands in a few weeks.”

As you may recall, Android creator Andy Rubin has started a new company that will market unique Android-based smartphones and related devices. The first such phone, the Essential PH-1, was announced back in late May, offering some nice materials, great components, an extensible and modular design, and a clean Android image. The pricing is good, not great: It will cost about $700.

Yet, I’m still very interested. Between this phone, the OnePlus 5, the Galaxy S8/Note 8, and the upcoming Pixel refresh, this has been a great year for Android phones.

You can find out more about this device on the Essential website.

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