Are 2 Touch Screens Better Than One?

This Sunday, April 17th, a new kind of touch-screen phone will be available for purchase through Sprint. This touch-screen phone is out of the ordinary. Not only does it have a touch-screen, it features a second touch-screen that can be used side-by-side.

The Kyocera Echo looks like a normal Android phone at first glance, although a little thicker than usual. First thoughts is that it has some kind of fancy slide-out keyboard -- but no, it doesn't! Under the first touch-screen, is another touch-screen. A special hinge design allows the top touch-screen to slide up and be positioned directly next to the lower screen for side-by-side use. Use of the two screens can be very useful and productive side-by-side. You are able to use one app on both screens, or even split the screens and have two different apps open at once for use. Turn the Echo sideways, and you are able to view the Web on a combined total of a 4.7 inch screen.

At a 6.8 ounce phone, the Kyocera Echo is noticably heavier than the other competing phones; such as the iPhone 4 at 4.8-ounces, the Blackberry Bold 9700 at 4.3-ounces, etc. From sources able to have a preview of the phone, when in a phone call, the 0.68-inch thick phone seemed bulky; although, the calls sounded fine.

At this point, users are worried about battery life with the two seperate touch-screens. Sprint estimates the total talk time to be up to 7 hours. The phone does come with a spare battery that can be swapped with the original, or even act as a power source with the right accessories.

The $200 phone (with 2-year contract) must be used with one of Sprint's Everything Data plans that start at $70 a month, plus a $10 premium data charge each month. Like other smart phones, the Echo is hot-spot enabled to host up to 5 devices for an extra $30 each month.

[original article found on The Wall Street Journal]

iPhone 5 Not Released Until Early 2012?

Everybody is used to the "norm" when it comes to Apple's releases of products. One of the most known release is the iPhone at the WWDC, which will happen June 6-10 this year, is the next-generation iPhone. Each year since the first iPhone came out, an announcement has been released at WWDC for the newest iPhone release. This year, there are more rumors than usual expecting the iPhone release to be delayed this year or maybe even into the beginning months of next year. Analysts Avian Securities are making a pretty big claim that the iPhone 5 won't be into production until September. With production not starting until September, this would probably lead into a late-2011 or early-2012 release.

This claim was brought up by a conversation that Avian Securities had with a "key component supplier". The conversation is below, in full:

Supporting out comments over the last month, conversations with yet another key component supplier indicates that production for iPhone-5 will begin in September. This is consistent with Avian findings in the supply chain in recent months and we believe the consensus view is moving towards this scenario. In addition, our conversations also indicate the existence of a lower-spec/lower-priced iPhone in Apple's roadmap.
However, while our contacts have seen the placeholder in the Apple roadmap, they do not yet have insight into specs or production timing. This leads us to believe that any launch is likely a very late 2011 or more likely a 2012 event.
As a reminder, Avian has uncovered several data-points in recent months pointing to the existence of a lower-spec/lower-price iPhone. A lower-spec/lower-price iPhone has also been speculated in the press and gadget blogs, though we do not believe consensus currently discounts the existence of such a model.

While nobody has anybody clear evidence as to why the above conversation isn't true, there is no evidence showing that this information is false. Even though Apple has had consistent summer releases of the iPhone at WWDC, when you add up all of the rumors and and current events that can harm production of certain aspects of the phone (such as the Japan earthquakes), an end of the year release seems more and more likely. I guess one positive thing mentioned in the above conversation is the lower-spec/lower-priced iPhone possibility. It will be interesting to see what Apple does to make the iPhone more affordable.