The YotaPhone certainly has gotta lotta bottle. It's a prototype Android phone that solves the modern curse of rubbish battery life with a novel new two-faced design.
The YotaPhone boasts not one but two 4.3-inch screens -- one on the front and one on the back. The twist is that the traditional full-colour high-definition touchscreen is complemented by a low-powered ebook-reader-style black and white E Ink display on the other.
Even cleverer than that, you can pass stuff from one screen to the other, so you can have the time or, say, your travel ticket details displayed on the low-powered E Ink display rather than running down the battery using the main screen.
Both sides are protected by toughened Gorilla Glass. And between the screens is a Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8960 chip, with 4G also on board.
Yota is a Russian company, part of Russian phone network Yota Mobile. Phone networks around the world are looking at the two-faced phone, which is currently at the prototype and is set to arrive in Autumn 2013.
We're expecting to see the YotaPhone at technology extravaganzas CES in January and Mobile World Congress in February. Your CNET team will be at both trade shows, so watch this space for more on the YotaPhone and all of 2013's hottest new gadgets.
In this country, only Orange puts its name on phones, but the Orange San Francisco 2 and Orange San Diego are nothing like as crazy as the double-sided YotaPhone.
Would you buy a double-sided mobile phone? What crazy features would you like to see in a new mobile? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.
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Comments 9
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CaptRimmer 12 December, 2012 18:02
Sounds a great idea but I don't know how much I'd use it.
Does anyone know if the likes of Samsung or Apple have explored the idea of a solar panel on the reverse side? I doubt it would generate enough power to charge the battery but there may be enough charge to stop the battery from depleting in stand-by mode.
Cheers,
Capt
anonymous 12 December, 2012 20:51
STUPID! Just make the damn phones 2mm thicker!
anonymous 12 December, 2012 21:04
I commented on a tech site a couple of years ago that a dual sided display would be great, but I think this is the wrong application. A dual sided tablet would be great, as one side would be an e-book reader and the other side for videos and web browsing.
I'm afraid Yota have missed the point, as no one lets their phone battery go completely flat, and while you have power you can view stuff on the colour screen.
Jonathan Aze 12 December, 2012 21:24
@CaptRimmer (great name by the way), i think the main problem with your idea is that, as most people's phones spent most of the sime in someon'e pocket, they wouldn't get enough sunlight to make much of a difference, and then there's problems like the extra cost...
solar0night 12 December, 2012 23:58
@ CaptRimmer this has indeed been done Samsung and LG have a solar phone try google Samsung Guru E1107
CaptainPicard 13 December, 2012 00:50
To be honest I really like the idea. This would be great if you want to save battery and just need to quickly update your Twitter and do really basic stuff. They should include a phone case that can somehow protect both screens, so the screen that your not using doesn't get scratches or ruined.
CaptRimmer 13 December, 2012 09:04
@solar0night....thanks for the pointer. First time I've ever seen one. The actual phone doesn't look much cop but it proves it works. Albeit one hour in the Sun for a few minutes talk time. But IMHO, still worth exploring. Many a time I've been sitting in a pub garden (well, may be not this year!) with the Sun shining and my phone on the table thinking how good a large solar panel on the back of the phone would be.
@Jonathan Aze (thanks for the comment) I think you hit the nail on the head....cost. However, if there were the option of a solar panel on the back for a few quid more, I'd definitely take it.
Cheer
anonymous 13 December, 2012 14:46
absolute crap.
anonymous 13 December, 2012 18:51
@anonymous 14:46 and why is this absolute craps?