Android creator shuts down Palo Alto smartphone startup once valued at $1B

The Palo Alto smartphone startup founded by Android operating system creator Andy Rubin said on Wednesday it is shutting down. Essential Products Inc. had raised $330 million in funding and was once valued at $1 billion, but it never recovered from the failed launch of its first product, a premium smartphone. A smart home speaker it was working on after that never materialized. Reports of the circumstances around Rubin's departure from Google didn't help in his attempts to get the Essential going.…