Sprint Launches Dual Touchscreen Kyocera Echo, Android Fan Boys Fist Pump (video)
No, this isn’t another new DSi from Nintendo, though it does look a hell of a lot like one. It’s a dual touchscreen smartphone from Kyocera called the Echo, and it will arrive on Sprint this Spring for $199.99 after a 2-year contract.
Each screen measures 3.5-inch and sports a 800×480 pixel resolution. It comes packed with seven core apps and up to two apps can run simultaneously , but independently, in each screen, something they’re calling Simul-Task. Alternatively, the phone can be placed into Tablet mode, which effectively turns it into a 4.7-inch touchscreen device with a 800×960 resolution – we’re not doing the screen measurement math, so take the leap of faith with us – or it can be used as a normal, single screen, so last year, touchscreen phone.
In terms of OS and specs we’re looking at Android 2.2, WiFi, Hotspot functionality, GPS, a 5 megapixel camera, 720p video capture mode, Bluetooth 2.1 +EDR, a digital compass, accelerometer, microSD card slot and a 1Ghz Snapdragon processor. There’s a 1370mAh battery, which probably means crap battery life when both screens are burning away, but hey, who are we to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Sprint is using an app called VueQue to champion the dual screens. It allows you to view a video in one screen while queue, buffering and browsing videos in the other. Sounds kind of cool, but honestly, there aren’t too many times where I’m pining for for a second screen. And Kyocera, really? When’s the last time they knocked out a home run phone.
If you’re worried about being the pun of another bad grade school joke (i.e. is that a banana in your pocket), you’ll surely take solace in the fact that is is just .68-inches fat when closed (we think) and weighs 6.8oz.
Christen Costa
