Domestic phone with two screens: development history
Probably, you all know the company Yota - fourth-generation telecom operator. Yota was the first in Russia to launch LTE networks and currently provides mobile Internet services in more than 20 cities of Russia. And we, Yota Devices, specialize in creating custom devices for working in such networks. Until recently, these were only modems and routers, but some time ago we started working on a completely new product: a dual-screen telephone - already known as YotaPhone or Yotaphone. In more detail about the device itself and the features of its development, we plan to tell here. Welcome to the first official Yotafon-post on Habré.
It all started two years ago. By the time our devices have proven to be the most convenient and functional: LiTE, Yota One, Yota Many. All of them differed not only in the quality of performance and excellent appearance, but were able to independently install the drivers when they were first connected and updated to the latest firmware versions automatically, without user intervention.
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We decided to use the accumulated experience and knowledge in the design and manufacture of equipment for a new, larger project. Thus, the idea of ​​developing a phone was born that, on the one hand, could work in LTE networks that were actively gaining momentum, on the other hand, would respond to our ideas about a convenient phone.
To formulate these ideas, our team gathered in full force. In the course of the meeting, everyone fantasized on the topic: What smartphones will become in two or three years. All ideas, including the most insane, were recorded and discussed. In the end, the five most promising of them were included in the shotlist:
As a result, the main concept of the most fully unified the ideas described above was the "dvuhkrannik" - a device capable of spreading information flows to different displays, thereby distributing priorities between them. He became the starting point for further movement to the perfect phone.
For the second screen, we chose the technology of electronic ink, which allowed us to solve two problems at once:
The reverse side of the presence of screens on both sides of the smartphone is the doubled risk of damaging or scratching the device. We managed to solve the problem by equipping both displays with Gorilla Glass from Corning, and for EPD a protective glass was specially developed, repeating the curved shape of the screen.
By the way, it was a real challenge - to convince such major suppliers as Corning, Qualcomm and E Ink to work with Yota Devices under the same conditions as with the key vendors - Samsung, HTC, Amazon. We managed to convey to industry leaders the originality of the second screen idea and the prospects for this, in fact, a new direction in the production of mobile devices.
Phone specifications:
Key elements in the assembly are as follows:
And again about the defensive Gorilla Glass . We dropped the phone from about the level of the belt to a flat wooden floor - neither the glass nor the screen received any damage. Naturally, we carried out not only impact tests, but also complete tests for abrasive wear. As part of the test, we made several approaches with a soft abrasive (such as hard sawdust on physical properties), 160 passes with a steel brush, and then 6 hours of scratching with a hard pencil. After 4 such cycles, there were no scratches on the main screen and on the second screen. In general, the stress and crash tests of our device is a topic worthy of a separate post.
Chipset . On board, Qualcomm dual core 1.7GHz Krait MSM8960Pro is installed. Please note that this is the latest version of the chipset, namely the 8960Pro is sharpened for heavy multimedia content, the consumption of which in 4G networks is much higher and longer. Similar Qualcomm processors use HTC and LG in the lines of smartphones this year.
Over the past year, our team of 10 people, distributed between Moscow and St. Petersburg, has grown to 60 and has significantly expanded the geography of its presence, after opening offices in Europe, the States and Asia. Directly in the development process YotaPhone involved three teams: Moscow, Finnish and Singapore.
The Finnish office, which is almost completely transferred from Nokia to us, is responsible for the research and development of the hardware.
Members of the Singapore team are responsible for interacting with suppliers and the production process.
Russian specialists are responsible for the development of technological solutions, functionality and software architecture of the entire product, including high-level applications, both own and third-party developers. On the support of third-party it is worth mentioning separately: one of the priorities now is to develop an open API and a full-featured SDK to help those who are planning to create services for multi-screen devices.
In the near future, we plan to conduct the first closed SDK testing among Android developers. If you have a desire to participate in it - stay tuned.
Here, on Habré, we plan to talk about the project in detail, including a description of engineering solutions from hardware and software points of view. Stay in touch, ask your questions, subscribe to our corporate blog.
It all started two years ago. By the time our devices have proven to be the most convenient and functional: LiTE, Yota One, Yota Many. All of them differed not only in the quality of performance and excellent appearance, but were able to independently install the drivers when they were first connected and updated to the latest firmware versions automatically, without user intervention.
')
We decided to use the accumulated experience and knowledge in the design and manufacture of equipment for a new, larger project. Thus, the idea of ​​developing a phone was born that, on the one hand, could work in LTE networks that were actively gaining momentum, on the other hand, would respond to our ideas about a convenient phone.
To formulate these ideas, our team gathered in full force. In the course of the meeting, everyone fantasized on the topic: What smartphones will become in two or three years. All ideas, including the most insane, were recorded and discussed. In the end, the five most promising of them were included in the shotlist:
As a result, the main concept of the most fully unified the ideas described above was the "dvuhkrannik" - a device capable of spreading information flows to different displays, thereby distributing priorities between them. He became the starting point for further movement to the perfect phone.
For the second screen, we chose the technology of electronic ink, which allowed us to solve two problems at once:
- using EPD features to display only the most important information for the user. What exactly - is set by the user
- increase the time of the device without recharging, by reducing the number of on / off the main screen.
- In addition, we made a curved back surface of the YotaPhone, thus creating the illusion of instability, which according to our idea encourages the owner to put his EPD screen up.
The reverse side of the presence of screens on both sides of the smartphone is the doubled risk of damaging or scratching the device. We managed to solve the problem by equipping both displays with Gorilla Glass from Corning, and for EPD a protective glass was specially developed, repeating the curved shape of the screen.
By the way, it was a real challenge - to convince such major suppliers as Corning, Qualcomm and E Ink to work with Yota Devices under the same conditions as with the key vendors - Samsung, HTC, Amazon. We managed to convey to industry leaders the originality of the second screen idea and the prospects for this, in fact, a new direction in the production of mobile devices.
Phone specifications:
- OS : Android 4.2.2
- CPU : Dual Core 1.7 GHz Krait. Android on it "flies"
- Dimensions : 133.6 mm in length, 67 in width and 9.99 mm in thickness
- Weight : 140 grams
- Body : white or black (both matte)
- Main screen : 4.3 ”720x1280 LCD, 16.7M colors
- The second screen : 4.3 ”360x640 EPD, 16 b / w; touch-sensitive area for control under the screen
- Networks : GSM 900/1800/1900, UMTS 900 / 1800MIMO / 2100MIMO, Dual Carrier HSDPA 42Mbps, HSUPA 11.5Mbps, LTE CAT3 3,7,20 MIMO. All standards and ranges supported in Russia are included. Plus, there is Wi-Fi 802.11 b / g / n, BT v4.0, GPS w / A-GPS + GLONASS
- Camera : 12 MP AF, LED flash writes video 1080p 30fps; H.263, H.264 AVC, MPEG-4, WebM, second front - 1MP
- Memory : 2GB RAM, 32GB eMMC
- Supported audio codecs : MP3, AAC, eAAC, eAAC +, AMR, MIDI, WAV
- Battery : 1800 mAh
- Connectors : Standard 3.5mm audio jack. SIM slot "micro".
- Optional : Accelerometer, compass, gyroscope.
Key elements in the assembly are as follows:
And again about the defensive Gorilla Glass . We dropped the phone from about the level of the belt to a flat wooden floor - neither the glass nor the screen received any damage. Naturally, we carried out not only impact tests, but also complete tests for abrasive wear. As part of the test, we made several approaches with a soft abrasive (such as hard sawdust on physical properties), 160 passes with a steel brush, and then 6 hours of scratching with a hard pencil. After 4 such cycles, there were no scratches on the main screen and on the second screen. In general, the stress and crash tests of our device is a topic worthy of a separate post.
Chipset . On board, Qualcomm dual core 1.7GHz Krait MSM8960Pro is installed. Please note that this is the latest version of the chipset, namely the 8960Pro is sharpened for heavy multimedia content, the consumption of which in 4G networks is much higher and longer. Similar Qualcomm processors use HTC and LG in the lines of smartphones this year.
About the team
Over the past year, our team of 10 people, distributed between Moscow and St. Petersburg, has grown to 60 and has significantly expanded the geography of its presence, after opening offices in Europe, the States and Asia. Directly in the development process YotaPhone involved three teams: Moscow, Finnish and Singapore.
The Finnish office, which is almost completely transferred from Nokia to us, is responsible for the research and development of the hardware.
Members of the Singapore team are responsible for interacting with suppliers and the production process.
Russian specialists are responsible for the development of technological solutions, functionality and software architecture of the entire product, including high-level applications, both own and third-party developers. On the support of third-party it is worth mentioning separately: one of the priorities now is to develop an open API and a full-featured SDK to help those who are planning to create services for multi-screen devices.
In the near future, we plan to conduct the first closed SDK testing among Android developers. If you have a desire to participate in it - stay tuned.
What's next?
Here, on Habré, we plan to talk about the project in detail, including a description of engineering solutions from hardware and software points of view. Stay in touch, ask your questions, subscribe to our corporate blog.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/188944/
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