Kyocera Echo Hands-On: Images and Video of the "First Dual-Touchscreen Smartphone"
CIO.com's Al Sacco was in New York City for Sprint's unveiling of the Kyocera Echo, which the wireless carrier claims is the world's first dual touch-screen smartphone. Check out the following details, images and video from the event for a first look at Sprint's latest Android device.
CIO
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When you think of cutting-edge smartphones, "Kyocera" most likely isn't one of the first company names that come to mind. But that could soon change if today's unveiling of the Kyocera Echo, the world's first smartphone with two touch screen displays, at least according to Sprint (S), is any indicator of things to come.
Sprint, the third-largest U.S. wireless carrier by subscribers, today unveiled the Google (GOOG) Android powered Kyocera Echo at a New York City event hosted by magician David Blaine. Sprint will initially be the exclusive carrier for the Echo in the United States. And the device should be available this spring for $199.99 with a new two-year service contract or eligible upgrade and after a $100 mail-in rebate.
Japan's Kyocera makes a number of smartphones, cell phones and other electronicssome under the brand name "Sanyo" for Sprint--including a lineup of Android smartphones, the most high-profile of which is the probably the Kyocera Sanyo Zio. But none have really grabbed mainstream attention during the past couple of years.
The Kyocera Echo aims to do just that with two touch displays that connect via a "pivot hinge design." They can be used together to form one single 4.7-inch display or employed separately with different applications on each screen, according to Sprint. And the Echo folds up into what should feel to most folks like a regular single-screen smartphone so it can easily be carried in a pocket.
The device runs Android version 2.2, a.k.a., Android "Froyo." It packs a 1GHz Snapdragon processor. And it is a 3G CDMA device with a 5MP digital camera capable of capturing HD video.
Additional notable technical specifications, from Sprint, are as follows:
- Dual 3.5-inch LCD WVGA (800 x 480 pixels) capacitive touch screens (4.7 inches diagonally and 800 x 960 pixels when opened)
- Wi-Fi hotspot capability (supports up to 5 devices)
- Full HTML Web browser with Google search, optimized for dual-screen experience
- Network: 3G data speeds (EVDO Rev A) peak download speeds of 3.1 Mbps; peak upload speeds of 1.8 Mbps; average download speeds 600 kbps - 1.4 Mbps
- Wi-Fi: (802.11 b/g)
- Stereo Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
- Digital compass, accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, GPS
- Expandable memory: 8GB microSD card included; supports cards up to 32GB
- 1GHz Snapdragon processor (QSD 8650 Android)
- Dimensions: 115.0 x 56.5 x 17.2mm, Weight: 193g (6.8 oz.)
- Removable 1370mAh battery; includes spare battery (1370 mAh) with portable charger that can also tether to the phone as an external power supply
- Memory: 1GB/512MB; microSD card slot for expandable memory (8GB microSD included)
