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YotaPhone’s dual-screen smartphone hits UK shelves from today

The first-generation part eReader, part Android-powered YotaPhone arrives in the UK from today for £419.

Excellent news for those that find single display smartphones just far too limiting and a screen they have to actually touch to wake just a bit beyond the work they’re willing to put in, today is the day that the long-awaited YotaPhone with its famed brace of face goes on sale in the UK.

Yota's dual-faced Phone

The first phone of its kind – and some might even unkindly say the answer to a problem nobody really had – the YotaPhone is an “always on” Android-powered smartphone featuring the expected LCD display on one aspect and a rather unexpected electronic paper display on the other, which continually flashes up notices from incoming emails, Tweets, status updates, calls, calendar alerts, weather reports, reminders and, well, all that manner of stuff, without users having to lay a single finger on it.

Duality aside for a second, running on Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2, the YotaPhone also comes packing a Krait dual-core 1.7GHz processor, a 13-megapixel rear shooter with auto focus and an LED flash, a 1-megapixel front facer, 2GB of RAM, expandable memory by up to 32GB, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, a reasonably roomy 1800mAh battery and with regards to the other display, it’s a 4.3-inch capacitive multi-touch panel with a 720×1280 HD resolution.

“YotaPhone is a totally new concept in mobile communications, designed to solve users’ frustration with their current smartphones’ “always-dark” screen,” says Yota. “By including a second screen that uses electronic paper display technology, users have access to the information they want and need on a continual basis without having to wake up their phone.”

YotaPhone's many faces...

A new concept? Definitely. A gimmick? Maybe. Clever? Undoubtedly – by using the e-ink display, the YotaPhone consumes less power, giving it a battery life 7-10x that of other smartphones.

On sale from Yota now at £419, the smartphone may have just got even smarter, if a little two-faced (sorry, we couldn’t resist).

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