Google's Android operating system has powered some unique handsets in the past, such as the Motorola Flipout and Kyocera Echo, and today that trend is continuing with a new device from Russian mobile broadband company Yota. Dubbed the YotaPhone, the new smartphone features a 4.3-inch 1280x720 LCD touchscreen on one side and a second 4.3-inch E Ink display on the other side. Yota explains that the two screens are linked, and the E Ink side can display notifications, email and calendar information as well as pictures and books. The company is also touting the E Ink display's ability to show things like boarding passes and tickets after the YotaPhone's 2,100mAh battery has run down.
While the pair of displays are likely the main draw of the YotaPhone, the remainder of its spec sheet is respectable. It features a 1.5GHz dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB or 64GB storage, NFC and multi-band 4G LTE support. There's also a 12-megapixel rear shooter, a secondary front-facing camera, a touch strip used for controlling the E Ink screen and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean running the whole show.
It's not often that we see a device like the YotaPhone debut, and the handset's 4.3-inch E Ink screen that accompanies the 4.3-inch LCD certainly makes for an interesting product. Exactly how well it'll work in the real world, and how much a person actually uses the E Ink display, remains to be seen, but Yota says that it's been working on the YotaPhone for more than two years, so it's clearly something that the firm believes in. The YotaPhone is expected to be made available "worldwide" in the latter half of 2013. That's about all that Yota has to say about the YotaPhone's availability right now, but more details are due to be revealed at MWC in late February, so we'll just have to stay tuned. Any of you think you'd use the YotaPhone as a daily driver?
Via Android Central
New Archetype in Smartphones Unveiled Today
The YotaPhone with two displays will change the way people use their smartphones for notifications, reading experience, personalization and communications
Moscow, Russia. 12 December 2012. A new archetype in smartphones with two displays will help consumers enjoy life’s virtual side without missing the real one, explains the phone’s creator, Moscow-based Yota Devices.
YotaPhone is a powerful Android-based phone. It is the first time a smartphone integrates a full-color LCD on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other side. The two displays are linked together to open a new world of unlimited user experiences.
The EPD is the user’s personal space for receiving notifications, linking to social media, reading news as it happens or simply displaying favorite pictures. The LCD and EPD are both 4.3 inches.
“This will be the first time that people will be able to personalize the information they want to receive on their phones in an effortless way,” said Yota Devices CEO Vlad Martynov. “You tell YotaPhone what information you want and when you want it. It becomes your personal assistant reminding you of what’s important to you.”
“Today if you want to check your email, calendar or social media page, you have to pick up your phone, turn it on, open the application and only then can you receive the information. With YotaPhone, this information will appear on the electronic paper display effortlessly, continuously and updated in real time,” Martynov explained.
The two displays have different functions and different purposes. YotaPhone lets users watch videos, play games and perform other functions best suited on the LCD, but adds an electronic paper display for content that requires longer reading time, like reading a book or magazine. It also keeps important information visible without draining the battery. Boarding passes, maps, tickets and other important information are displayed even if the battery dies.
“Technology is setting the tone of our lives rather than the other way around. We at Yota Devices aim to rebalance the relationship with our smartphone. YotaPhone takes all the best components of this great lifestyle product and amplifies them. At the same time, we address some of the ways smartphones interfere with us being truly social beings. YotaPhone is always connected, but in a smarter, less stressful way,” said Martynov.
Yota Devices has been working on YotaPhone for more than two years. The first model was shown to then Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in September 2010 at a meeting on the country’s modernization program. Yota Devices has filed a number of patents, copyrights and design rights associated with YotaPhone.
YotaPhone uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8960 platform, one of the most advanced processors integrated into a single chip, and the latest release of the Google Android operating system. The API developed by Yota Devices will allow the developer community to create innovative ways to use and benefit from the phone’s two displays. Yota Devices has created a number of applications for YotaPhone to allow users to take full advantage of the EPD.
“YotaPhone is elegant, slim and sleek. It’s as gorgeous outside as it is inside, featuring two Corning Gorilla Glass screens, which are exceptionally resistant to damage,” Martynov said. This is the first time Corning’s 3D Gorilla Glass is being used on a smartphone.
YotaPhone will be available for sale worldwide in the second half of 2013. It is a multi-band, LTE phone that will work anywhere in the world. Exciting new details about YotaPhone and its innovations will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on 25-28 February 2013.
- Log in to post comments