Imerj dual-screen Android phone prototype spotted

The folks over at Engadget recently got their hands on a prototype phone from Imerj and gave it a thorough hands-on preview. The phone packs a dual-screen design that’s reminiscent of the Kyocera Echo that was introduced not too long ago, though this one features some improvements that put it a notch above Kyocera’s offering.

First off you’ll notice that it’s running on Android 2.3 Gingerbread instead of 2.2 Froyo – which already makes the phone more attractive. It packs a 4″ display on each half, and when combined together it forms a 6″ display – 1″ shy of being a 7″ tablet, which isn’t too bad at all. The displays are WVGA AMOLED, so you can be sure that dull colors aren’t going to be an issue with this phone. It packs a dual-core TI-OMAP processor, and 1GB of RAM, with internal storage of up to 128GB.

The phone will pack a 1,750mAh battery that should let it last as long as other phones though it’s touted to beat the Atrix in terms of battery life. As for the software experience, the phone has a unique multitasking system that allows it to run two apps simultaneously – it kind of reminds me of Windows 8 multitasking system (the one where you can resize apps to make it fit next to another app on the tablet’s screen). As usual, apps won’t take advantage of the dual-screen unless they’ve been specifically coded to. It also packs a 5-megapixel camera that rotates with one half of the panel, making it function as both a rear and a front facing camera.

Either way, the phone looks like a pretty interesting device, though it’s going to come down to its price, final specs and app support to determine its success – check out a more in-depth first impression report over at Engadget. Watch a video demonstration of the device which ends in the actor putting the phone into some sort of tablet like the ASUS Padfone. Intriguing…

George Wong
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Android, android 2.3, dual-screen, Gingerbread (Android), Smartphones