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Yota Phone Launches With Secondary E-Ink Display

Posted by Unknown on from the waiting-for-pixel-qi dept.

OldJuke writes "Called the YotaPhone, the device pairs a traditional LCD color touch-screen on one side with a black-and-white, electronic-paper display on the other, allowing users to continuously view data in real time without having to constantly wake up their phones and drain their batteries. General interaction will be done through the LCD screen, but the e-paper display allows an image to be displayed at all times — from maps, airline boarding passes and family photos to Twitter messages and emails — but only uses power when the picture changes. BBC News interviewed the company's leader, Vlad Martynov, for a hands-on demonstration."

18 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. Finally! by Grantbridge · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I've been asking for one of these for years. Battery drain on a LCD screen is too high for a phone, eink makes a much better screen.

    1. Re:Finally! by locopuyo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Same, but I want one where the main screen is color e-ink. Mirasol color e-ink displays have been in Korea and China for years now on tablets. What is taking so long?

      --
      The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
    2. Re:Finally! by jellomizer · · Score: 2

      Consumer demand.

      At the saving of battery life and natural non back-lighting you loose refresh speed, and brightness of the device, and the ability to use it in the dark without some external light shining on it.

      We have the Kindle and the Kindle Fire. One with ePaper and one with an LCD display. The Kindle is only for reading, the Kindle Fire is for much more.
      When given an option people usually choose more.

      In countries such as Korea and China, battery life may be more necessity over more features.

      Also companies like to try out product ideas in other countries as to get a general feel for the product before they go into mass production.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:Finally! by DriveDog · · Score: 2

      Actually, it's what marketing types THINK would be consumer demand, since they haven't actually tried it in the US. I think we all know how reliable that is.

    4. Re:Finally! by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The only down side is that you would have an actual phone used for talking to other people with phones, rather than disgruntled avian simulator. Some folks consider that to be a problem.

      The Yota will let you display a map, a book, or other useful stuff on its e-ink display.

      The Fone apparently couldn't even display SMS messages properly.

      Sorry if I missed a joke, but if you're serious, there's no comparison.

      If someone made a phone like the Yota in a slider format (or some other way to get a keyboard in there), I could be all over it.

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    5. Re:Finally! by locopuyo · · Score: 2

      Actually the Mirasol displays I'm referring to have even faster refresh rates than LCDs and can play videos just fine. The backlighting can be solved just like the backlit eink Nook and Kindles.
      After doing some googling it looks like they stopped production and development last year because they were too expensive. :(

      --
      The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
    6. Re:Finally! by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 2

      The backlighting can be solved just like the backlit eink Nook and Kindles.

      Kindles are front lit, aren't they?

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  2. Durability? by oodaloop · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I like having a working phone after the inevitable drop, which means putting it in a case. This phone looks cool, but unless it's built to be durable without an additional case, or they have a custom case to make both screens usable, I'm no interested.

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    1. Re:Durability? by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Informative

      When was the last time you found a cellphone case that wasn't custom shaped for the phone? It's not like they have uniform physical characteristics.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    2. Re:Durability? by oodaloop · · Score: 2

      How many of them are clear on the back? Normal style cases wouldn't do the trick for this phone.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
  3. Yota phone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Shouldn't the headline read: "With Secondary E-Ink Display YOTA Phone Launches"

    "Smart phone wars begun they have."

  4. Ooops! Got it frozen with compromising display... by advid.net · · Score: 3, Interesting

    e-ink display lasts even not powered, so one day you may have something personal/compromising/secret displayed there and if a bug freeze the phone you won't be able to erase that quickly by shutting it off, as one can do with LCD or OLED display.

  5. Best/worst inevitable feature by RevWaldo · · Score: 4, Funny

    An app that displays the cover of the book you're reading on the LCD side.

    It kills the battery but oh! the conversations you'll strike up on the subway!

    .

    --
    Prisencolinensinainciusol. Ol Rait!
  6. Nokia Glance by Aphadon · · Score: 2

    It's not e-ink, but Nokia also solves this problem to some degree by switching the screen into a low power state, turning off a lot of the pixels and reducing the available colours. This allows you to have a clock, notifications and even a background image visible all the time when the screen is 'off' without draining much battery power.

  7. A phone should not need a case by knarf · · Score: 2

    Cases are for iPhones and similarly fragile design statements - a phone should not need one. This does put some constraints on the freedom the designers have - no glass to the edge, a buffer zone between fragile materials and the casing (which should not be made of a fragile material), etc. As the phone is first and foremost a tool this is not an unreasonable restriction.

    We use Motorola Defy phones here on the farm. They seem to survive just fine without needing a case. They look rather similar to most touchscreen phones so the compromises needed for survivability are not that onerous.

    --
    --frank[at]unternet.org
  8. Re:Plus touch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Also nice to have, ditch the Google part of Android and gives us a clean Android install."

    I'm not even going to comment on how dumb this is, I think it speaks for itself. Want to ditch the Microsoft part of Windows while you're at it?

  9. Re:Plus touch by hawguy · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Also nice to have, ditch the Google part of Android and gives us a clean Android install."

    I'm not even going to comment on how dumb this is, I think it speaks for itself. Want to ditch the Microsoft part of Windows while you're at it?

    There's a quick and easy command to do that: mkfs /dev/sda1

  10. Pixel Qi? by CityZen · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Yes, why don't many more devices use the Pixel Qi display? You know, the one that's a normal color LCD when backlit, or a monochrome very-low-power LCD when front-lit (ie, by ambient lighting). Seems like it would be ideal for phones and smart watches.