Android has had multitasking since its existence. But when we refer to multitasking on a mobile phone, we usually mean having things running in the background and being able to quickly switch between running applications. The Kyocera Echo from Sprint is here to change things.
It’s the first dual-screen smartphone ever and it’s pretty groundbreaking. It’s got two seperate 3.5-inch 480 x 800 displays that can be put next to eachother giving you a combined 4.7-inch 960 x 800 screen to work with. A liquid-metal hinge is used to flip the phone between standard single-screen , tablet (flat and unfolded) and PC mode where the top sits at an angle like a laptop.
The Kyocera Echo runs on a 1GHz second-gen Snapdragon processor, has 1GB of RAM and 512 MB ROM with an 8GB microSD card and an extra spare battery in an external charging case included. Single 5MP back camera that can record 720p video. Comes with Android 2.2 on-board and seven optimized apps that take full advantage of both the screens. For example you can have your browser window on the bottom and email up on the top screen or view your message inbox on one while reading the message content in the other display. They’re calling it “Simul-Tasking”.
Any third party apps will just show as if the surface was one big screen. An SDK is due for those developers wanting to take advantage of the hardware. There’s also a bit of confusion as to how the simultaneous apps are treated and whether you’d be to use both at the exact same time like watching a video on one screen and browsing on another for example.
This device is 3G-only and won’t be using Sprint’s WiMAX network. Should hit Sprint stores this spring for $199 on a two-year term. The international availability might depend on how well it sells at launch and if this is really the sort of thing customers are demanding.
I’ve occasionally ran into the issue of wanting to have two separate windows open on my phone. It’s especially useful when trying to write an article like this to have the source window on one side and a word processor on another. I feel this might be one of the biggest things that would draws me away from my phone onto a computer (other than the full physical keyboard for typing of course) so I have to say, the idea is tempting. It does add a good bit of bulk and might not be so practical in day to day use so we’ll just have to wait and see. What do you think?
[via LAPTOP Mag]
[Sprint]