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NEC Medias W is a Dual-screen, Folding Smartphone

Andi Sykes — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:20:29 +0000

As the old saying goes “bigger is better”. Samsung followed this rule with the original Note and Huawei are hoping for similar success with the Ascend Mate. Now we have NEC’s uber large Android phone, but rather than one big screen the NEC Medias W boasts two 4.3-inch panels.

The concept is similar to the Sony Tablet P, and allows for either two apps to run at once utilizing their own screens, or taking up both screens for a larger view of things.

Currently only certain apps such as Google Maps, the web browser and media players make use of the dual-screen function. The ability to fold the phone in half and share videos, and photos with people sitting opposite sounds particularly useful, and could be used in future games (Connect 4, Battleships etc).

The Medias W is currently only available in Japan, and it seems as though this dual-screen wonder might stay that way for sometime to come. What do you think, would you be interested in seeing such a device ship outside of Japan or do you feel that this is a very niche product with limited real world use potential?

[ Source ]

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Dual Display uBook Notebook To Be Demoed At CES

Michael Kwan — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:52:25 +0000

The idea isn’t exactly new, but it hasn’t really become a mainstream form factor yet either. The Universal Notebook by NajmTek takes on the shape of a regular laptop, but it comes with a touchscreen display where the regular keyboard would normally be found.

Also dubbed simply as the uBook, the NajmTek Universal Notebook is set to be showcased at CES 2012 in a little over a week. The demo video seems to indicate that the notebook can be setup to work with Windows or Linux, though it’s unclear whether this is in a dual-boot configuration or as a choice from the factory.

Naturally, the lower touchscreen is designed to adapt to the current situation. You can have a QWERTY or AZERT keyboard, for instance, as well as program-specific layouts for graphic design and whatever else. NajmTek says that you can also create your own custom designs and layouts. The rest of the specs, like processor choices and screen sizes, remain murky at best.

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gScreen SpaceBook laptop rocks two 17-inch HD displays

Michael Kwan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 14:10:38 +0000

There’s something to be said about having a second monitor. The dual display configuration can work wonders on your productivity, but without planting yourself down at a desk, it’s just not possible with a laptop. Or is it? Here is the gScreen SpaceBook and it is a true dual-screen notebook PC.

No, it won’t be nearly as thin and light as a Samsung Series 9 or a MacBook Air, but you are afforded a real second display. Not only that, the twin displays are sizable 17-inch 1920×1080 full HD monsters, almost rivaling the kind of setup that you might have on your desktop computer at work… assuming you have two monitors there in the first place.

Remember, though, that while the gScreen SpaceBook is portable, it’s not exactly mobile at a hefty 4.5 kilos (about 10 pounds). Then again, imagine the looks you’ll get at Internet cafes and airport lounges when you whip out this beast of a computer. The rest of the specs are more than adequate too.

The cheaper of the two SKUs ($2,395) has a Core i5-560M 2.66GHz dual core processor, 4GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250M 1GB graphics, and a 500GB HDD. Bump up to the more expensive model ($2,795) and you get a Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz quad core CPU and 8GB of RAM. Pre-orders are being taken now with a minimum 50 per cent deposit, with the rest payable once it’s shipped.

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LG Dual-screen Android phone leaked

Michael Kwan — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 22:17:16 +0000

You’ve got to do something to separate yourself from the crowd. When everyone else is doing “slate” style Android phones (LG has its Optimus phones in that line too), you want to do something different. And this new LG sliding dual-screen Android phone is definitely different.

It’s not the first Android phone with two screens — we’ve already seen the LG Genesis and Kyocera Echo — but this yet-unnamed handset also has a full hardware QWERTY keyboard. As you can quite plainly see from the photo, you get a regular touchscreen, plus a smaller one that fits in between the two halves of the keyboard.

This is quite the interesting form factor, I’d have to say. It’s probably a little on the fatter side of things, thanks to the two-layered slider, but it could prove to be quite functional. The “split” keyboard could be better for thumb typing too. I’d imagine the secondary display isn’t quite as useful as a full-sized screen, but it could still be good for shortcuts, macros, options, wasting battery, those types of things.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground for this, but we’re hearing that the dual-screen Android from LG is going to make its way to T-Mobile UK. No word on a US release just yet.

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NEC Android Tablet gets Dual Display

Michael Kwan — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:18:05 +0000

A rose by any other name? NEC showed off its LT-W Cloud Communicator a few months ago at CES and now the dual-screen Android tablet is re-emerging with a new name. Behold the NEC LifeTouch W Tablet. The Acer Iconia is the only dual screen tablet in town.

Aside from swapping out the name, NEC doesn’t appear to have changed very much with this since we saw it in January. There are two seven-inch 800×600 displays, but they are sadly both of the resistive touchscreen variety. I guess you need the precision of a stylus to write certain Japanese characters, but capacitive really should be expected in this day and age.

The other big downer? There’s absolutely no mention of any Honeycomb action for this poor tablet, getting stuck with a stretched out version of Android 2.2 Froyo. It also doesn’t help that there’s only 384MB of RAM and a mere five hours of battery life. A Cortex A8 processor runs the show, but they’re not talking about clock speeds.

I don’t mind the idea of a tablet with two touchscreens, since it’s almost like a netbook without a physical keyboard, but the NEC LifeTouch W isn’t really the way to go about doing it. Look at the size of those bezels too! In any case, it’s set to ship to Japanese retailers next month.

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Preorders Start for Dual-Screen Kyocera Echo Android Smartphone from Sprint

Michael Kwan — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 20:27:37 +0000

Early last month, we caught the official word about the Kyocera Echo. It’s kind of like a Nintendo DS, except both displays are touchscreens and it just so happens to be an Android smartphone to boot. Now, you can preorder the device.

Sprint is now accepting pre-orders on the double-screened wonder and you should expect to have it in your hands on or around April 17. They’re calling for a cool two hundred bucks on a two-year contract, after you deal with that pesky $100 mail-in rebate too.

Given the push toward slim and sleek devices, I’m not convinced that people will want a double-screener like the Kyocera Echo, but the bigger (combined) real estate (4.7-inches) could help bridge the gap between smartphone and tablet. Too bad there’s no 4G and no Gingerbread for this, but at least you get some Snapdragon action.

[Read]

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Official: Sprint reveals Kyocera Echo dual screen Android smartphone

Michael Kwan — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:35:08 +0000

Just as we heard earlier today, a brand new smartphone has arrived on the scene. The Kyocera Echo, to be sold exclusively through Sprint, is the only Google Android smartphone that comes with two touchscreen displays.

The initial form factor will look familiar to many people. In its “closed” form, you get access to a single 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen. The landscape slide can pop open, though, revealing not a hardware QWERTY keyboard or dedicated gaming controls, but instead another 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen.

What’s interesting is that you can operate the two displays independently or you can combine them to make an oversized 4.7-inch “integrated display.” The former sounds like a cool idea for multitasking, whereas the latter is better suited to the “optimized mode” where you use an “optimized app” to fill both screens. Maybe the bottom screen can be a virtual QWERTY keyboard while the top screen keeps showing your Facebook or e-mail, for example.

Aside from the dual displayness, the Kyocera Echo is pretty middle of the road as far as specs. There’s Android 2.2, Sprint 3G (no 4G love yet), 5MP cam, 720hp HD recording, Snapdragon QSD8650 1GHz processor, 1GB memory, and stereo Bluetooth 2.1+EDR.

In a sea of Android smartphones that look stunningly similar to one another, it’s good to see someone brave enough to go way out there. The stumbling block, I’d imagine, is getting enough devs to fiddle with the SDK to create these “optimized” apps. That and a “Kyocera” is still a hard sell compared to Apple, HTC, or Samsung.

Look for it “this spring” for $199.99 on a two-year contract. More info can be found at EchoByKyocera.com.

Kyocera Echo, Exclusively from Sprint, Revolutionizes the Android Experience as the First Dual-Touchscreen Smartphone

NEW YORK (BUSINESS WIRE), February 07, 2011 – Sprint (NYSE: S) and Kyocera Communications Inc. today announced the first dual-touchscreen Android™ smartphone, Kyocera Echo™, exclusively from Sprint. This Android-powered device features two high-resolution 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen displays connected by a patent-pending “pivot hinge” that enables the two displays to operate independently, side-by-side or combined to form an oversized 4.7-inch (diagonally) integrated display.

Until now, a single screen on a smartphone could only be used to complete one task at a time, even with limited multitasking capabilities available on some smartphones. Kyocera Echo’s second screen provides the ability to do two things at the same time and get more done – send an email on one screen while surfing the web on the other, watch a video on one screen while texting on the other, comparison shop online with one web site on each screen and so much more.

Images and video of Kyocera Echo’s dynamic design in action are available now at www.echobykyocera.com. Pre-registration begins today at www.sprint.com/echo.

In its closed position, Kyocera Echo is a pocket-friendly, single-display smartphone. When opened, Kyocera Echo reveals a revolutionary new platform for wireless multitasking and gives customers a new level of versatility in Android. Its innovative hardware and optimized software enables consumers to use the touchscreens in four unique ways:

Single-Screen Mode with all the functionality of a single-display, touch-screen smartphone.
Simul-Task™ Mode with two of the phone’s seven core apps (messaging, e-mail, Web browsing, phone, gallery, contacts and VueQue™) running concurrently but independently on the dual displays – e.g., reading e-mail on one screen and opening a text message on the other; checking Facebook® via the browser on one screen while looking through a photo gallery on the other; or even searching the Web on one screen and checking email on the other.
Optimized Mode with both displays supporting a single, optimized app with complementary functionality and enhanced usability – e.g., composing e-mail on one screen with a touchscreen keyboard on the other; watching a YouTube™ video on one display while browsing and queuing additional YouTube videos on the other (with a preloaded Kyocera app called VueQue™); or viewing gallery images on one display while browsing image thumbnails on the other.
Tablet Mode with one application spread across both displays for a full 4.7-inch viewing area. Tablet Mode is ideal for viewing maps, videos, websites, detailed documents, and long lists on-the-go.

“Sprint is proud to boast the most powerful Android portfolio available today and Echo adds to that legacy with industry-leading technology that will change the way our customers use smartphones,” said Sprint CEO Dan Hesse. “Today’s busy schedules often demand that we do at least two things at once. Kyocera Echo is the first device that allows us to do a different task on each of two screens while also providing a tablet-like, larger screen experience that easily fits in a pocket when closed.”

Kyocera Echo will be available this spring for $199.99 with a new two-year service agreement or eligible upgrade and after a $100 mail-in rebate in all Sprint retail channels, including the Web (www.sprint.com) and Telesales (1-800-Sprint1). Pricing excludes surcharges and taxes.

“For years Kyocera has provided handsets to Sprint’s Prepaid Group and MVNOs, as well as to Sprint under the Sanyo brand,” said Eiichi Toriyama, president of Kyocera Communications Inc. “We value greatly our relationship with Sprint and we are thrilled that they have chosen Echo as the standout product with which to reintroduce its customers to the Kyocera brand. With Kyocera Echo, we are proud to give Sprint an iconic, industry-changing device that delivers an entirely new experience for smartphone users.”

Kyocera Echo also includes customized apps optimized for the dual-screen Optimized Mode experience including VueQue™, which lets users watch a YouTube video on one display while browsing, queuing and buffering additional YouTube videos on the other display. Additional applications optimized for the dual-screen experience include:

Messaging and e-mail: Users can turn the device horizontally and use the top display to view the e-mail/message application while using the lower display as a full-sized virtual keyboard.
Browser: Takes the browser experience of a standard 3.5-inch smartphone and enhances it, allowing users to view two websites simultaneously.
Gallery: Users can scroll through thumbnail images on one screen while viewing an enlarged image on the other.
Contacts/phone: Users can view more of the phone’s contact directory or an expanded virtual dial pad.

Beyond the dual touchscreen innovation, Kyocera Echo operates on the Android 2.2 system and has access to more than 100,000 apps in Android Market™ – everything from Facebook to Angry Birds. Additional key features include:

Sprint’s nationwide 3G network and Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g)*
Wi-Fi hotspot capability, which supports wireless connections for up to five devices
5-megapixel camera with flash, autofocus and digital zoom
720p HD camcorder to quickly capture those on-the-go memorable moments
Corporate (Exchange ActiveSync®) and personal (POP & IMAP) e-mail, IM (Google Talk™), text messaging
Media player with a 3.5 mm stereo headset jack
Stereo Bluetooth® 2.1 (+ EDR)
Full HTML Web browser with Google Search™
1GHz Snapdragon processor (QSD 8650 Android)
1 gigabyte (GB) of onboard memory and an 8GB microSD™ card for the external memory card slot supporting cards up to 32GB
Voice and text prompts in both English and Spanish

Kyocera Echo comes packaged with a spare battery (1370 mAh) and a low-profile charging cradle. Along with charging the spare battery independently of the phone, the charging cradle also can tether the spare to Kyocera Echo as an external power supply.

Additional Google™ features include Google Maps™, Google Talk™, Gmail™, synchronization with Google Calendar™, and access to Google Goggles™ to search with pictures instead of words. With Sprint, Kyocera Echo users have access to Sprint Zone™, providing one-stop wireless account access, phone tips, news, a list of top apps plus TeleNav GPS Navigator, Sprint TV and Movies® and more.

A Software Development Kit (SDK) and developer guide for Kyocera Echo will be available before the launch on the Sprint Application Developer Program (ADP) website at http://developer.sprint.com/android. The developer guide will provide details on developing for a dual-screen handset and Android 2.2 device. It also will provide information on how to take advantage of Kyocera Echo’s unique hardware and software capabilities on the Sprint Network. The Sprint ADP has been providing tools for third-party developers since Sprint first launched the Wireless Web on its phones in 2001.

Some competitors may offer lower prices, but Sprint customers get more with unlimited data while on the Sprint Network with their monthly plan. Sprint offers real simplicity, value and savings vs. competitors, making it easy for customers to get the most out of their phones without using a calculator to tally up costs or worrying about how much data they’ve used.

Kyocera Echo requires activation on one of Sprint’s Everything Data plans plus required $10 Premium Data add-on charge for smartphones. Sprint’s Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, AnytimeSM includes unlimited Web, texting and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint network, starting at just $69.99 per month plus required $10 Premium Data add-on charge – a savings of $39.99 per month vs. Verizon’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and Web, and $35 per month vs. AT&T’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and just 2GB of data (excluding Verizon’s Southern California plan; pricing excludes surcharges and taxes.)

Sprint Everything Data plans qualify for automatic enrollment in the Sprint PremierSM loyalty program1. Existing Sprint customers can switch to an Everything Data plan without extending their service agreement. New lines of service require a two-year service agreement.

An optional charge of just $29.99 per month turns on Kyocera Echo’s mobile hotspot feature, connecting up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as laptops, gaming devices and digital cameras, at 3G speeds anywhere on the Sprint 3G network (pricing excludes surcharges and taxes).

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Kno tablet saga continues: New images, delayed shipment

Michael Kwan — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:23:33 +0000

Well, I’ve got some good news and some bad news for all the tablet fans in the audience. The good news is that a bunch of new images have been released for the hotly anticipated Kno tablet. The bad news is that they’re pushing the shipment date until around the middle of next month.

Yes, even though they started taking pre-orders in early November, the physical Kno tablet textbook device still isn’t ready for public consumption. Here we were thinking that both the single and dual-screen Kno tablets would be ready for the spring semester in colleges across the country. Not so.

That’s a real missed opportunity for the folks at Kno, because they already missed the bigger launch window for a textbook-oriented tablet back in the fall. “Mike Annab” commented on the Kno Facebook page that he was supposed to have his Kno delivered yesterday, but he wont’ be getting it until January 12 “due to inventory.” Presumably that means lack of inventory.

It’s unclear whether Annab is the only one getting the run-around, but “Fabian van Burk” is saying that his order shows an estimated ship date of December 20, 2010 (yesterday) with no mention of a delayed shipment. The official folks at Kno say that “some pre-orders have already shipped,” but it looks like many other folks are going Kno-less for the holidays.

[Kno on FaceBook]

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NEC Cloud Communicator Android tablet with dual screens at CES

Michael Kwan — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:31:21 +0000

NEC has already indicated that it will be at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next month and will definitely have its Cloud Communicator tablet on the show floor in full force. However, it seems that the a dual screen version of the Android tablet will also be making an appearance.

I imagine that much of the “guts” of the dual-screen tablet will be the same as its single screen counterpart, meaning that we should expect an ARM Cortex A8 processor, 3MP camera, SD card slot, WiFi, GPS, and Android 2.1. The main difference, of course, is the inclusion of a second 7-inch “Retina Touch Panel” display.

The idea of rocking two touchscreens on a single tablet isn’t exactly new, but many of the concepts and prototypes we’ve seen thus far have left something to be desired. I’m not entirely sure what NEC is going to do to make its doubled-up Cloud Communicator any better, but if the rumors hold true, I should be able to find out in just a couple of weeks.

[NEC]

NEC to Exhibit a New Line of Android(TM) Products and Service Offerings at Pepcom’s Digital Experience and CES 2011

The First Dual-LCD-Screen Android Tablet, LifeTouch and a New Android Application Marketplace Available to Demo in the South Hall 4, Booth 36268

Tokyo, December 21, 2010 – NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today that it will participate at Pepcom Digital Experience and CES 2011 on Jan. 5-9, 2011 in Las Vegas. NEC will be debuting a new line of products and service offerings based on the Android platform, including the first showing of its dual-screen Android tablet, the introduction of its Home Gateway Solution designed for cloud access from home and its Android application marketplace, andronavi. NEC will also exhibit its single-screen tablet, initially announced in November 2010, for the first time in the U.S.

NEC products featured at Pepcom Digital Experience and CES 2011 South Hall 4, Booth 36268 include:

* NEC Dual Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet
o Android powered tablet with two 7-inch touch screens
o Wifi/3G/Bluetooth enabled
o Multi-tasking, with the ability to run different programs on each LCD screen – an industry first
o Stylus pen for easy input

* NEC Single Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet
o Android powered, single touch screen
o Wifi/3G/Bluetooth enabled
o Camera and SD-card equipped
o Slim, lightweight design
o Stylus pen for easy input

* NEC Personal Products’ Mobile Notebook
o Android powered

* NEC Home Gateway Solution
o ADSL2+/802.11n/USB2.0/DECT enabled
o IGMPv2 Proxy & Snooping/VoIP
o Media Control & Serving/Printer & File Sharing
o TR069 and OSGi enable services & configurations to be carried out remotely

* NEC BIGLOBE’s “andronavi”
o Android application marketplace
o Japanese content including Manga, Japan related photography, etc.
o For more information, visit http://us.andronavi.com

All of the products named in this release will be exhibited at both Pepcom Digital Experience on Jan. 5 and CES 2011 from Jan. 6-9 in Las Vegas.

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Fujitsu smartphone offers dual flipping, rotating, touchscreens

Michael Kwan — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:01:59 +0000

Want to have the larger utility of a tablet but the portability of a smartphone? It looks like Fujitsu is trying something a little bit different with an unnamed cell phone – sporting not one, but two touchscreen displays. We’ve seen flipping phones like this before, but usually one of the slates is covered with a QWERTY keyboard or numeric keypad.

In effect, you almost get a device similar to the Nintendo DS Lite, except both displays are touchscreens and there are very few physical buttons at all. It’s just a concept at this point, but I can see how something like this could be quite useful. The bottom screen can turn into a virtual keyboard without obscuring the top screen. Depending on the app that you’re using, it could span both displays too. You’ll get a “break” in the image, but this could be just fine for web browsing or even multi-tasking. What if you could run two different apps on the two separate screens?

There’s no real timeline for this, as it’s just a concept being shown right now at CEATEC Japan, but a hopeful outlook would still put this at least six months into the future.

Via: Gadget Review
Source: Engadget, Tat

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