The Kremlin pivots Yotaphone away from US, to China

We have a certain fondness for the Yotaphone around here. The dual-screen Android smartphones that Russian parent company Yota Devices has produced have swayed the niche markets, including the United States. Unfortunately, when we got word that the company

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Yota and ZTE join forces for bigger than ever Q1 2016 YotaPhone 3 launch

The highly ingenious dual-screened YotaPhone, and especially the YotaPhone 2 made quite a splash at various technology expos and trade fairs, but outside of that closed circuit, it was unfortunately very difficult for actual mobile enthusiasts to get their hands on the unique Androids.Crowdfunded for a long overdue US ...

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YotaPhone 2 US release plans derailed

The dual-screened YotaPhone 2 dates all the way back to the early days of 2014, and after a year of waiting, we finally heard back in January that Yota Devices might have friendlied-up with a US carrier and was working to get its phone in stores. Those rumors ultimately didn’t pan out, and instead the phone would be sold unlocked through crowd funder Indiegogo – maybe not the most ideal situation, but at least US ...

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YotaPhone drops Android in favor of Jolla Sailfish (UPDATE: no it doesn’t)

Update: Nate Hoffelder of Ink, Bits & Pixels recently ran a statement from Yota CEO Vlad Martyanov debunking the below story. We’ll clarify if and when we receive comment from Yota.  Original Story: YotaPhone is the Russian company known for its dual-screen smartphones; its most recent model, the YotaPhone 2, is a step-up in every aspect compared to

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How E-Ink works: the technology behind E-Paper Displays (Video)

E-Ink. It powers everything from the YotaPhone 2 to the Amazon Kindle. It’s simultaneously one of the most understated and futuristic display technologies around. And it’s being put to use in devices and venues you’ve never even thought of. But what exactly is E-Ink, and how does it work?That’s a question we had for the folks at E-Ink Corporation, the brains behind the world’s leading electrophoretic ink technology, and they were more than happy to answer it. In fact, they invited us to tour their Innovation Center and Headquarters facility in ...

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YotaPhone 2 review: this is what the Fire Phone should have been

If you’re like me, the first thing you think of when you see an E-Paper display is an e-reader like the Kindle Paperwhite. While Yota Devices definitely had that use case in mind when it designed the original dual-screen YotaPhone, its sequel is no one-trick pony. With benefits ranging from extended battery life to always-on widgets to virtually unlimited customization, the YotaPhone 2’s second screen brings something we’ve been craving ...

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Rumors name YotaPhone 2 US carrier partner

This year we came back from CES with an old friend, finally getting our hands on the YotaPhone 2 we first saw nearly a year ago in Barcelona. In the time since, we’ve been giving the Android and its unusual dual-screen arrangement our hands-on treatment, and in another day or so our full review of the smartphone should be ready. While we’re sure that will help address many of the questions you may have about this hardware, there’s one answer we don’t have just yet, and ...

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Life on two screens: using the YotaPhone 2 (Video)

The YotaPhone 2 packs a lot of features that set it apart from the typical smartphone. It’s got more curves than we usually see these days, a volume rocker that does double-duty as a SIM card tray, and it comes to us from Russia. Oh, and it’s got a second screen around back.The YotaPhone 2’s E-Paper Display (EPD) is a 4.7″ 960×540 E-Ink panel that dominates the rear cover of the device. With no backlight, just 16 levels of greyscale and a pixel density of only 235ppi, it’s not all that impressive on paper – but YotaPhone nonetheless manages to squeeze ...

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YotaPhone 2 unboxing: two screens are better than one (Video)

Last MWC, we had our first look at the YotaPhone, a unique smartphone with two displays – one was a regular smartphone display, while the other was an e-ink display, perfect for both outdoor visibility and power management. Now we’re here at CES 2015, having just acquired the sequel to review in our offices. But first, to begin our coverage, here’s a YotaPhone 2 unboxing.Spoiler alert: the YotaPhone 2 box is beyond cool. There’s a whole lot of attention to detail that’s obvious, and we’re hoping that translates to the phone itself when we give it a test ...

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Which carrier will bring the YotaPhone 2 to the US?

At a big show like CES, it’s easy for a new mobile device to get lost in the crowd. That’s why we find ourselves drawn to hardware like the new LG G Flex 2, not just because it looks like a very solid handset in and of itself, but because it manages to stand out from everyone else; anyone can make a “safe” phone, but it’s the ones that challenge expectations that often capture our attention. This is one of the reasons we’ve had our eye on the YotaPhone 2, which made a reappearance at ...

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YotaPhone 2: hands-on (Video)

We first met the YotaPhone 2 the better part of a year ago: the one-of-a-kind smartphone that paired a traditional screen with a low-power persistent e-ink display first popped up on our radar all the way back at MWC 2014, and we took that opportunity to go hands-on with the model. In the months since, Yota Devices has been preparing for the handset’s retail launch, with nations around the globe set to see the handset land ...

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Additional YotaPhone 2 release details arrive

How long have we been waiting for the YotaPhone 2, the dual-screened, e-ink-based handset we got to look at all the way back in February… and have been patiently looking forward to the start of sales ever since? A couple weeks back the first parts of the smartphone’s commercial launch started coming together, as we learned of a presentation due to take place tomorrow in London. While that will obviously bring ...

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Nokia N1, Samsung Gear S, Gorilla Glass 4 and more! | Pocketnow Weekly 123

Updated with links to stream and download the high-quality audio version of the podcast, as well as timecodes for all the stories mentioned. We hope you enjoyed – see you next week!Is Nokia’s new tablet just an iPad ripoff – or just what Android needs? Will Gorilla Glass 4 finally stop you from shattering your smartphone? And is the Gear S a good enough smartwatch to make the dumbphone obsolete? These are the pressing questions on the docket this week as the mobile industry prepares to end a wild year on a weird note, and we’re gonna tackle them one by one in the ...

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YotaPhone 2 set for an official launch next month

Even though the concept of a dual-screen devices hasn’t gained much popularity after the launch of the original YotaPhone last year, that doesn’t mean that there is no future for the idea. Some of us end up using our smartphones to continue reading a book every now and then, and the option of a less power-hungry display is also practical for a long day of extensive use. We were all very pleased with the YotaPhone 2 prototype that we saw at MWC 2014, ...

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Pocketnow Weekly 085: MWC 2014 wrap-up from Team Barcelona

Anton D. Nagy chasing a taxi on foot. Jaime Rivera almost burning down a building with a power strip. A Honduran drinking palinca and a Romanian doing a Mexican accent. The tales from our leather-clad Barcelona duo are intense – but their intensity is matched by the hot mobile news that burst forth from this week’s Mobile World Congress, the most epic in recent memory. To wit, that news includes an MWC 2014 Samsung Unpacked event that gave the world the latest Galaxy; a Sony unveiling of similar proportions that built on the Xperia legacy; a press conference that saw the ...

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