Could the YotaPhone be the start of a revolution?
Leading smartphone manufacturers are reportedly pursuing their own dual-screen smartphones as Yota says it has advised on a range of potential YotaPhone rivals.
With the YotaPhone – a 4.3-inch Android powered handset with a power-saving, secondary E-ink screen on the rear – having launched in the UK earlier this week, Russian manufacturer Yota has claimed “most OEMs” have been in contact for advice on their own products.
“We are having some companies contacting us and asking for support,” Lau Geckler, Yota’s Chief Operating Officer said speaking with TrustedReviews recently. “We have some IPs but particularly we have a lot of experience.”
He added: “It is not out of the question [to have copycat devices].
“If you go to any OEM that is either first tier or second tier and asked them to do [a dual-screen phone], they would probably say ‘the only guys who know how to do this is Yota, it would take us many years to get the same experience.’”
Although the manufacturer refused to name any of its rivals which it claims have approached for advice, Geckler hinted that more than a few have been in contact.
“Most OEMs have asked us questions [about the technology],” he told us. “In reality what we are doing is more about software and less about hardware.”
With battery life improvements one of the main draws of the £419 E-ink hosting YotaPhone, the company’s COO has suggested delays in battery improvements could force rivals to follow a similar dual-screen approach.
“Everybody had expected new and improved batteries to come out by now but that didn’t happen,” Geckler said.
“Samsung is focussed on its power saving system and Microsoft has something as well. Everyone is trying to find their way around this delay in the optimised batteries and ours is a good way to do this.”
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