During its media event in New York this evening, Sprint and Kyocera have lifted the veil on the forthcoming Kyocera Echo dual screen Android smartphone slated for launch later this Spring for $199.99 after new 2 year agreement and $100 rebate, plus the newly expanded $10 Premium Data charge which PhoneNews.com has covered extensively.
The Echo will feature two 3.5 inch widescreen displays at 853×480 resolution each with a patent pending hinge design that will allow for horizontal and vertical use. The Android Froyo-powered device is meant to bridge the gap between conventional smartphones and larger MIDs/tablets without sacrificing power or having to deal with portability issues.
As previously reported, the device resembles a Nintendo DS when opened in Tablet mode and will usher in two new modes of operation, which Kyocera and Sprint call “Simul-taskingâ€Â by including seven custom developed applications that take advantage of both displays and operate simultaneously (Messaging/Email/Gallery/VueCue/Contacts/Phone) with device specific APIs being released in the future for developers to take advantage of when developing applications.
Accessories included with the Echo will also include a charger with a second battery for extended use that can be swapped out at will once the battery in the device is spent or can be utilized with the charger. Further details on specifications are expected at a later time, but what is currently known is that despite being a Sprint exclusive and its flagship device for the first half, it will not feature WiMax access..
Epic failure! Very disappointed Sprint!
C, you took the words right out of my mouth. EPIC Failure.
Speaking of another EPIC failure, the EPIC still runs 2.1!!!!!!!
Who on Gods earth wants another phone that needs its own SDK to take advantage of the signature dual screen feature.
Sprint, this reminds me of your Instinct debut and trying to pit it against the iphone. A really really lame attempt by sprint to take away Verizon IPhone thunder.
Sprint, I”ll say it once again, let people activate Verizon ESNs. There will be plenty of people who will purchase an iphone 4 verizon or any other of there android phones if Sprint will make the ESN process very easy. Besides Verizon’s phone lineup blows away what sprint has.
Sprint, has the worst lineup of any of the major carries. Its only a matter of time before metropcs passes them up.
very disappointed…
I dont even see how 1) Sprint thinks for a second a phone like this will catch on, 2) why they would run with Sanyo for a phone like this and 3) why they would hype this as a “game changer” vs. the iPhone.
Sprint needs to invest in marketing and getting QUALITY phones. Not even counting the iPhone, Verizons crop of droids and tablets are insane, and Sprints network is DEFINITELY better and cheaper for people, but without quality phones and creative ways to market it to people, no ones going to pay attention or care.
Was this really the big announcement? This was a big waste of time. I will stick with my evo till the evo2.
I hope the touchscreen has been improved since my Sanyo Zio. Actually, I would have been more excited if Sprint had anounched Android 2.2 for the Zio ;).
-g00b
I have to agree, this announcement was a failure. This phone will be a flop.
I actually like the idea, but they screwed it up.
1: It should have 4G.
2: It should have a front facing camera.
3: It should have a dual core processor.
4: The screens should fit together seamlessly, without a huge plastic bezel down the middle.
5: You shouldn’t need a special SDK in order to utilize both screens.
I am just amazed at this announcement. Not because it was great, but because it shows just how out of touch Sprint really is. Verizon announced a bunch of new devices with the past month or so, all of them better than this, with one of them being the iPhone. AT&T announced a bunch of devices too, all of them better than this. T-Mobile did too.
Maybe Sprint will get lucky and HTC will save the day. Perhaps HTC will announce some dual screen (where they actually form 1 seamless screen) with 4G, glasses free 3D, front camera, no special SDK required, dual core processor, and docks that rival the Motorola Atrix. Then Sprint can pick it up.
Things are not looking good for Sprint right now though. Someone should seriously lose their job over this.
Sprints going down and its entirely their fault.
I can’t believe anyone at Sprint really thinks this POS phone is a good idea. Why isn’t sprint courting Motorola to make phones on there network. Verizon can’t have a US exclusive on every single cdma phone that verizon sells. DO THEY?
All I see now is Sprint is going to get the Evo 2. It will be a upper end mid range phone and maybe another POS NON UPDATABLE Samsung Galaxy S phone. That will be it for this year Android wise with a mix of lower end Android garbage. As for WM7, they’ll probably pick up some first generation phones like the Touch Pro while the GSM guys will get 2nd generation WM7 phones.
I
Wow, everyone seems to be beating on Sprint pretty hard. I thought the device was kind of cool…
I agree that it’s kinda cool, Duker. It just wasn’t deserving of all the hype that they generated with this event.
I’m not sure what folks expect Sprint to do here. Their marketing group had to do something to at least minimize the impact of Verizon’s big news. Fortunately its a 3G iPhone, can you imagine had they announced a 4G version. These things are cyclical and in a month or two, Sprint or ATT or someone else will have the days news. I agree though, Sprint has to have something big in the next few weeks or they are gonna see their customers who are partial to the latest and greatest jump ship. Great plans are only part of the equation. EVO was a juggernaut and continues to be successful, they need to build on that!
I was hoping for two things out of this announcement:
1. Announce an aggressive EVDO Rev B rollout to update the entire EVDO network by years end (Industry 1st? at least for the US). Then disclose that some phones already have EVDO Rev B capable chips and all future phones will. Look at Verizon’s iPhone, it has a chip capable of HSPA+ and EVDO (including Rev B). WIMAX is great, but kills battery and rollout is still lagging. Even cities that have WIMAX, coverage is swiss cheese.
2. Another industry first: Allow multiple consumer data devices to be associated with one plan. For example, allow tablets and phones to share the data from one plan. With the proliferation of data devices, I need a separate plan for each device that I own. Why cant I pay one reasonable data rate and allow my Galaxy S and EVO to share the plan. Not everyone wants to pay $100+ for mobile internet on top of their DSL/Cable fees.
And now we know why sprint is delaying froyo update for epic. Class action?
@ nanfy & Alphad
Dan Hesse: Your ideas are far too progressive, now let me get back to enjoying my salary, I need to figure a way of charging the remaining customers some more money, maybe $15 instead of $10 extra, that would be another industry first!
Brought to you by SPRINT, the NOW Network!!!
What is sprint thinking? They really need to step it up. At this point the last great phone they released was the epic. The evo is still selling more but the epic has more potential with 2.2 update, but sprint still is delaying the update. They are going to lose a lot of customers to verizon and att with the iphone4 release and the atrix being released on att. Not only that but those people who were going to update this june on the premier accounts are no longer eligible as of april 1st since they increased the amount. Sprint is just making some stupid moves. Its like they reverted 3 years to their old ways.
Gimmicky garbage imo. I was hoping for something that wouldn’t make me regret setting up a position in S. So much for thinking the stock was undervalued.
Food for Thought ,
where is SPRINT going? In short it does not look good, either way one looks at it.
online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110210-711401.html
Thank You