NEW TYPE OF PHONE: TWO SCREENS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Innovation Lions

Category: Innovation Lions

Product/Service: NEW TYPE OF PHONE

Agency: YOTA Moscow, RUSSIA

Ceo: Vlad Martynov (Yota Devices)

Coo: Lau Geckler (Yota Devices)

Sw Development Director: Anton Tarasenko (Yota Devices)

Describe the brief from the client

Having already established ourselves as a global player in LTE, our company decided to bring our experience and expertise to the smartphone market and create a new type of phone that would redefine the customer experience for the better. We asked ourselves why the industry is obsessed with specs — bigger screens, more megapixels, lighter weight — rather than improving the user experience. We also knew there was a lot we didn’t like about the smartphones we owned, most importantly the way we interact with our devices. A primary example of this is short battery life, which we view as one of the biggest obstacles to creating a better experience with our phones. So we decided to create a device around the user experience and put technology to work for users.

Our phone is the first Android phone with two screens: a high-resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other. The two displays have different purposes and functions.

The technology comes from all over the world — the U.S., the Nordics, Asia and Russia. The working prototype has already been presented to the public and will be available in Q4 2013.

The central feature of our product is the electronic paper display. A key benefit of the EPD is that it enables the user to read in comfort, even in bright sunlight and for a much longer time. An equally important innovation is the ability to mirror any image onto the EPD and that image stays visible, if the phone runs out of battery. This is useful in so many ways, for example, your airplane boarding pass, a map of a new city or directions to your next destination. Whatever information is on the EPD is always displayed and you don’t even need touch the phone to access the information.

We also were very aware that the innovative functionality afforded by the EDP demanded a phone design that would do justice to these new features. Our phone is elegant, slim and sleek. The overall design concept reflects the idea of naturalness and understated style. It is built on the two main principles. The first is thoughtful minimalism, building on the concept of "eliminating the unnecessary" and concentrates the attention on the core elements that make our phone unique. The second principle could be best described around the missive: "the form should follow the function".

The phone uses Corning Gorilla Glass on both displays, so it combines superior quality with toughness and durability. Another important specification of our phone is that it has as few openings and buttons as possible. For example, the SIM card is combined with the power button.

Our phone will work anywhere in the world — it connects to LTE as well as to all other wireless systems. Similarly the device is ready out of the box. We have developed and pre-installed several applications that will leverage the EPD for entertainment, productivity and communications.

We are committed to continuing to innovate around our concept. Even though our phone will be available in Q4 2013 all over the world, we already conceived of many smart and exciting ways in which our product can be improved and enhanced in its second and third generations as new technology matures and evolves to catch up with our ideas.

We hope that our phone will inspire other players in the market to improve the ways consumers use their phones. We firmly believe in building devices around the user experience first and then apply emerging technologies to make them work for the customer and not the other way round.

Communication is integral to being human. And while smartphones have eased communication across all levels of life, they have also contributed to the alienation of social interaction. We are communicating more, but speaking with one another less. And when we do talk, we are less engaged. People are constantly checking their phones for fear that they are missing out on something. We aim to rebalance the relationship with phones. Our device is less obtrusive and more relationship friendly.