14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone carrier Sprint has just announced plans to make its first dual-touchscreen smartphone, the Kyocera Echo, available for purchase come April 17th at a price tag of $199.99 (excludes taxes) through all Sprint stores around the country, as well as via the carrier's website. The carrier also announced that users interested in the new device would be able to reserve it online on its web store starting with March 26.
The new mobile phone arrives on the market with Google's Android operating system on board, and features two high-resolution 3.5-inch WVGA touchscreen displays.
These are connected via a three-dimensional “pivot hinge” which enables users to operate them independently, side-by-side or combined, forming a 4.7-inch (diagonal) integrated display.
“Continuing to set the bar high in Android innovation, Sprint is thrilled to bring this industry-first device to the market,” said Fared Adib, vice president Product, Sprint.
“Kyocera Echo's unique dual-screen, Simul-tasking capabilities allow customers to do things they have never before done on a wireless handset.
“We believe customers will really appreciate and leverage the dual-screen capabilities and are excited to partner with Kyocera to bring this innovation to Sprint customers.”
The mobile phone was officially announced in early February. It runs under Google's Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and offers support for applications available for download via the Android Market.
The mobile phone lands on shelves with a fast processor, as well as with 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), and Bluetooth 2.1 (+ EDR). It comes with 1 gigabyte (GB) of onboard memory and microSD card with support for up to 32GB of additional storage space (an 8GB card in the package)
Some of the main features of the new device would include:
- 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 - Full HTML Web browser with Google Search