Sprint will offer the first dual touch-screen smartphone this spring, but CNET got a preview of the Kyocera Echo early. Check out the hands-on photos here.
Bonnie Cha
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
The Kyocera Echo is the first dual touch-screen smartphone. It will be available from Sprint later this spring for $199.99 with a two-year contract.
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Kyocera Echo vs. HTC Evo Shift
Despite having two screens, the Echo is still a relatively compact device. It measures 4.53 inches tall by 2.22 inches wide by 0.68 inch thick and weighs 6.8 ounces.
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Left side
On the left side, there's a 3.5mm headphone jack, a microSD expansion slot, a power button, a volume rocker, and a Micro-USB port.
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Back/camera
The Kyocera Echo is equipped with a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording capabilities.
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Top view
A top view of the Echo. There are no controls or ports on either the top or bottom of the device.
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Dual touch screens
The Kyocera Echo features two 3.5-inch WVGA touch screens. The pivot hinge allows you to angle the screens, as well as place them side by side.
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E-mail
Certain apps on the Kyocera Echo are optimized so you can use them on both screens. Here is the e-mail app where you can view the message on top and reply using the keyboard on the bottom.
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Back view
Here is a back view of the Echo when fully open.
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Pivot hinge
Here is a profile of the Kyocera Echo when open. Kyocera said it worked hard on the pivot hinge design to ensure durability. Overall, we though it felt relatively sturdy, though closing the device wasn't the smoothest.
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Optimized mode
There are several modes in which you can use the Echo: Standard, optimized, tablet, and simultasking. This is a view of the e-mail application in optimized mode. On the left screen, you get view of your full inbox and on the right is the full text of a single message.
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Google Maps
Here is Google Maps shown on both screens. This was launched from the e-mail shown in the previous slide, which had an address included within the message.
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Google Maps Street View
And here is a zoomed-in street view on Google Maps.
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Photo gallery
The photo gallery is another app that's been optimized for the Echo. On the top screen, you can view a single photo, while still seeing the full photo gallery on the bottom screen.
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Photo gallery
Here is a single photo blown up on both screens.
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Tablet mode
When combined, the two touch screens provide a total of 4.7 inches of view space. Most apps, such as Amazon Kindle for Android, are designed to work in tablet mode so you can view everything on both screens.
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Simultasking mode
The real beauty of the Kyocera Echo may lie in the multitasking capabilities. In simultasking mode, you'll be able to use two apps currently on both screens. However, at launch, it will be limited to just seven applications.
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Simultasking mode
Here you can see simultasking in action. On the top screen is the photo gallery and on the bottom is the messaging applications.
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Features
The Kyocera Echo will run stock Android 2.2. The smartphone will also have a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 1GB internal memory with an 8GB microSD card preinstalled, and mobile hot spot capabilities. However, it will be 3G-only.
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Web browsing
Here is CNET's full site shown across both screens. Kyocera and Sprint said it worked hard to minimize the seam between screens so it would provide a good user experience. It was certainly better than what we were expecting, but it still took a bit of getting used to.
