February 21, 2013 By 3 Comments

Yota E-Ink phone going into production

We posted back in December about the Yota Android phone that would have 2 screens. A colour display on the font and a E-Ink display on the rear. According to Android Authority this device is now set to go into production.


Now the company has announced that it has signed a deal with Singapore Hi-P to manufacture the phone. Hi-P is a fast growing Tier 1 contract manufacturer that specializes in wireless telecommunications and consumer electronics.

Along with the new production deal, Yota Devices also announced that it is establishing an R&D and Asian sales office in Singapore. This makes sense since that is where the phone will be made and it will make it easier for the company to iron out any production issues. With the production deal signed and a new office in Asian, it is expected that the phone will be ready for sale first, in Russia and then globally, in the second half of 2013.

We are keen to see this develop, so will be following the story as it develops.

Source: Android Authority

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December 13, 2012 By 3 Comments

First Android handset with a second E-Ink display launching next year

It seems that a marriage between smartphones and E-Ink technology will be inevitable within the next couple of years. We’ve already had a look at the Chinese Android smartphone from Onyx that will be an outright E-Ink device. Then there’s the popSLATE – a case for the iPhone 5 that puts an E-Ink display on the back of the handset.

Now Android Central is reporting of an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean handset from Russian manufacturer Yota, which will have a colour display on the front and an E-Ink display on the back. It’s also got a top of the range feature set: the latest version of Android, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 2GB RAM, LTE and a 2100mAh battery.

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The handset is due to be announced at Mobile World Congress 2013 and Yota then hope to have it on sale in Europe and North America before the end of the year, following a summer release in Russia.

Whether or not the handset would be a success in the UK is yet to be seen, but I certainly think there will be a niche of users that are interested in the concept of having a second E-Ink display on the back of the handset. Taking the success of the Galaxy Note series as an example – despite initial criticism for its lack of style, the functionality that it provides has driven its success. The same goes for a device that can provide significantly more battery life and an improved reading/browsing experience. However, it may take a well-known manufacturer to drive sales for such a handset.

Update 14/12: Video via Android Authority

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December 3, 2012 By 1 Comment

The E-Ink case: give the back of your phone Kindle-like capabilities

E-Ink coming soon to smartphones

Back in October we posted about an E-Ink Android smartphone that’s in the works. However, it looks like the technology could be coming to handsets even sooner in the form of a case for the iPhone. The popSLATE is a case that has an E-Ink screen built into it. It can therefore display photos, text and other images pretty much constantly without eating into the handset’s battery life too much.

 

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October 22, 2012 By

E-Ink Android smartphone could offer a week’s battery life

Anyone that’s used a Kindle e-reader will know the advantages of an E-Ink device – it has incredible battery life and is highly visible in direct sunlight. This does come with disadvantages – at the moment displays are black and white and page refreshes are slow – but in the right situation these sacrifices are worth the extra juice. The Kindle is the perfect fit for E-Ink technology, and there is now an E-Ink Android phone on the way from Chinese manufacturer Onyx.

At the moment the handset details are scarce, but ARM devices reports that it will weigh less than 100g and run on a ARM Cortex-A5 processor. The video below shows an E-Ink device in action. It should be noted that battery life is reported as being 1 week (not 1 month as is mentioned in the video) and that the version of Android that the handset is running is optimised for LCD screen, not E-Ink, so the screen refresh rate should be faster on final release devices.

E-Ink devices may not be suited to power users that consume media and need a vibrant display, but a cheap handset that only needs charging once per week could certainly be useful in emerging markets. Colour E-Ink is also in development with talk of Amazon releasing a colour Kindle in the near future.

 

Via AndroidOS.in

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