See the brains of Andy Rubin's Essential Home

The founder of Android, Andy Rubin, is taking on the Amazon Echo and the Google Home with his own countertop smart speaker -- the Essential Home.

Announced in May, the Essential team is now showing off a conceptual model of the Home. Eventually, the Home should look like the mock-up on the left and have a screen that looks like the demo on the right.

Nothing is finalized yet, but the Essential Home should respond to your voice commands, and have a touchscreen. You'll be able to use it as a personal assistant and a smart home controller -- like the Echo and the Google Home.

At the back of the base are two connector pins, which will allow you to attach modules to the Essential Home. The first module announced for the Essential Phone is a 360-degree camera. On the Home, that could be used for security or to make video calls.

The Home will connect to your Wi-Fi network and talk directly to smart home devices with Bluetooth. It may also have antennas for ZigBee and Z-Wave -- which would allow it to communicate with small smart home accessories and double as a hub.

The Home will also process requests locally when possible, which is a stark departure from the competition. The Amazon Echo and the Google Home both process all voice commands in the cloud.

The Home will support some active notifications from the get-go. Again, you'll be able to control compatible devices both with the touchscreen and with a voice command.

The touchscreen will use Ambient OS to provide a simple means of interacting with connected services and devices.

The Essential Home doesn't have a price or release date yet, and most details still need to be finalized. When it does hit the market, the Home will have tough competition. The Essential Home will try to stand out by making smart home interactions more intuitive and flexible.