Around six or seven years ago, a revolutionary phone called the E70 had been released by Nokia. It was innovative in terms of having a split QWERTY keyboard with the screen in between. Now it looks like that very unique form factor is back and this time it comes with an extra screen and the Android OS for mobile phones. There was something called the MotoSplit that briefly appeared on the market but it was never popular and later discontinued. This new one is from LG and is called the DoublePlay and though the design is quite quirky, it might just find favor with consumers looking for a unique device.
On first look, it is a simple touchscreen phone that runs the Android OS but it has a landscape slider with another, smaller screen in between the two parts of the keyboard. The DoublePlay has a 1GHz, Snapdragon processor running on the inside and the other impressive hardware is the 5 megapixel camera on the back that can record 720p video. Coming to the screens, the main one is a 3.5”, while the one inside is a 2” display that can possibly be customized to show whichever regularly used applications or services the user wants. The screens can also be programmed to run independently or show the same content as per the user’s wishes. It seems to be a really neat move and effectively gives a huge screen in two different areas for more convenience.
The operating system is native Gingerbread and is free for customization. An interesting point to note for texting addicts is the great timing of the launch, just in time for the National Texting Championship all set to start on 26th October. There is whopping $50,000 prize money in the offing, and it looks like LG is trying to garner some publicity before the event!
