The YotaPhone has a HD 4.3″ display on the one side and an always-on E-ink display on the other. Developed by Russian company Yota Devices, it is officially being launched today. According to the company, it’s the world’s first LTE Android smartphone with a Kindle-like E-ink screen.
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The main idea behind this concept is to have an always-on notification display that’s not too straining on its 1800mAh battery. Generally, an E-ink display is easy on the eyes and works well in sunlight but apart from reading, the YotaPhone’s innovative display has a bunch of awesome customizable features.
The always-on electronic paper screen can stream social media, text messages, maps, weather and breaking news. It also works as an e-book reader of course. Apparently you can also integrate Google Now updates with the E-ink screen. According to Engadget who got the chance to do a hands-on, the battery will enable about 60 hours of e-book reading.
“It’s a new type of gadget. With smartphones it’s always one problem – its display is always black, it always sleeps, which we think is fundamentally wrong,” Yota Device’s CEO Vlad Martynovsaid.
Except for its focus on connectivity, on the hardware front the YotaPhone won’t rock any techy’s socks off — it has a mid-range dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor, 2GB RAM, NFC, 4G LTE connectivity, a 12-megapixel camera and an option between 32GB or 64GB.
The YotaPhone weighs 140 grams and is 9.9mm thick with an unusual curvature of the E-ink display.
Another separate project very similar to the YotoPhone’s concept, the popSLATE, also successfully raised funding on Indiegogo January this year. The popSLATE, however, is an E-ink shell for your iPhone 5.
While the smartphone will be available in Russian stores as of today, the company hopes to break into Western markets by early 2014. The YotaPhone is available in black and white for about US$675 (depending on the region). You can pre-order the YotoPhone on the website.
Image via Wired
