Russian smartphone manufacturer Yota, luanch a unique device with an e-ink display on its back and traditional LCD on the front, is now on sale in Russia, Austria, France, Germany and Spain for approx $678 USD, it is available for pre-order now in a number of these countries also targeted for a Q1 2014 release.
The Android-powered phone promises to extend battery life by transferring web pages and other applications to the e-ink screen. Apart from the obvious uses of the e-ink display, like reading text without straining your eyes
The YotaPhone has a 4.3-inch 720×1280 HD LCD display on the front and a 360×640 e-ink display on the back. It features a dual-core 1.7GHz Krait CPU, with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Yota has managed to squeeze in 13MP primary camera on the back with 1080p video recording, as well as a 1MP front-facer, 1,800 mAh battery. The YotaPhone runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The colour LCD display can be used like a normal Android phone, while the rear e-paper display can receive notifications and display news or maps while conserving battery life.
There are no removable covers here. The matte plastic casing permits no entry except through the SIM tray on the top right-side corner and this tray also cleverly doubles up as the power button. Then there’s the 3.5mm headphone jack on the top left and the microUSB port on the bottom.
References:
- Phone with e-ink second screen launched (www.bbc.co.uk/news)
- Hands-on with the YotaPhone: the e-ink Android phone that nobody expected (www.engadget.com)
- The Android-Powered, Dual-Screen YotaPhone Launches In Russia And Beyond For €499 (techcrunch.com)
- Dual-screen YotaPhone launches in Russia (www.telegraph.co.uk/technology)
- Russia’s dual-screen YotaPhone goes on sale (www.gsmarena.com)
- Yotaphone (yotaphone.com)