MOSCOW, Nov 14 — Although there is still no official word on price, its makers have confirmed that the phone will be launching internationally in time for Christmas.
The handset, which sports a 4.3-inch 720p display on one side and a 4.3-inch electronic ink monochrome display (think the original Kindle or other first generation-e-readers) on its rear, was voted the hottest mobile device of the International CES back in January and while its Russian makers promised the handset would go into production in the second half of the year, Yota Devices has been very quiet since accepting the award.
However, the wait is now over and the YotaPhone will be launched internationally “before Christmas.” The concept behind the device is very simple. Notifications, alerts and even wallpapers appear on the rear, black-and-white, low-energy screen (which also doubles as a reader for e-books and even cached web pages) so that the phone's primary display remains uncluttered, meaning that not a single pixel of screen real estate is wasted.
Despite having two displays, the device is also less than bulky and is roughly the same thickness as an iPhone 4S. However, because it has taken so long for the phone to go from showcase to reality, its specifications look rather tame compared with the majority of mid-weight and premium Android devices currently available.
Rumours circulating earlier this year suggested that the handset would retail for around €500 which would put it up against the Samsung Galaxy SIV, HTC One and Sony Xperia Z1, each of which boasts a 4.9-inch+ full HD display, a newer version of Android Jelly Bean (the YotaPhone will ship with version 4.2) and much beefier processors.
Nevertheless, the phone's novelty value might be enough for potential owners to look past the dual-core, 1.7GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and relatively small battery and its smaller, lower resolution front-facing display. — AFP-Relaxnews
