You haven’t heard the last of the YotaPhone, the unusual Android handset with an e-ink display on its back. Although the smartphone has only been on the market for a few months, its manufacturer is already showing off the next generation. This second act is rounder, a bit svelter, and incrementally smarter. Though it’s clear this updated gadget isn’t quite ready for prime time, it makes the most impressive case yet for a dual-screened e-ink Android smartphone combo.
Russian mobile-making startup Yota Devices has just unveiled the next generation of its dual-screen smartphone, the YotaPhone. As with the current first-gen model, which went on sale in Russia and select European markets (Austria, France, Spain and Germany) last December costing €499/$684, the handset’s flagship feature is that it’s two-sided — with a full colour touchscreen display on the front and a low-power consuming e-ink display on the rear. The next generation YotaPhone, as it’s currently known, won’t go on sale until the end of this year but the company showed TechCrunch a working prototype of the device, ahead of the Mobile World Congress conference kicking off today in Barcelona.