Live Coverage
Live from Sprint’s Kyocera Echo event
By: Jonathan S. Geller | Feb 7th, 2011 at 05:55PM
Some of the mystery and allure surrounding Sprint’s event this evening has likely been squashed. First, it was revealed that the device set to be unveiled today is the Android-powered Kyocera Echo. Then The Wall Street Journal spoiled Sprint’s surprise even further when it reported that the Echo will feature a unique dual-display form factor. Sprint appears to have quite the show in store for us tonight, however, including a presentation from CEO Dan Hesse and an appearance by none other than illusionist David Blaine. And who knows — we could definitely be in store for a surprise or two. BGR is on-hand at the event, and we’ll be live blogging all of the action right here. So hit the break and don’t forget to refresh the page for all the latest updates as they become available.
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On | Off5:55PM:We're here and rockin' away to some pretty awful... well, it's just awful.
5:56PM:The Wizard of Oz just said on the loudspeaker that the event will begin in 10 minutes.
6:01PM:Sprint said we're not allowed to photograph David Blaine's performance, but we are able to photograph David Blaine himself. Eh.
6:04PM:Announcer is back on, five minutes, guys!
6:07PM:Wizard of Oz: "David Blaine's presentation will begin in two minutes."
6:09PM:Ladies and gentlemen, please be advised no photography or recording of any kind is permitted during David Blaine's performance.
6:10PM:There's a steel box on stage filled with ocean water and David Blaine is sitting inside in a suit, completely submerged holding his breath.
6:11PM:He just "coughed" up a goldfish. Yes, it's alive.
6:12PM:He is now reading Dr. Suess to himself while sitting in a chair, again, completely underwater. And, out pops another goldfish.
6:12PM:He's smelling a cigar. He bit the tip off, and is now trying to light it underwater...
6:13PM:Yes there is fire and he's lighting it... and smoking it and just blew a smoke ring.
6:14PM:He's breaking out the red wine...
6:15PM:He's pouring the red wine into a glass, and smelled it, and is now drinking it...
6:16PM:There is a white handkerchief being dragged back and forth and up and down... we can't help but think he'll product something out of it
6:18PM:A bunch of goldfish just appeared from a top hat underwater
6:19PM:David Blaine just came up for air -- he held his breath for 7 minutes and 58 seconds while performing tricks underwater -- impressive!
6:20PM:Sprint's showing us an animated video now with different phones and devices, looks like the product we're going to see today is the next generation in something or an evolutionary device.
6:20PM:Out pops what looks to be a super large Kyocera Echo, and Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint is out with Kyocera
6:21PM:Extreme multitasking can be magical and Sprint and Kyocera have cracked the code. Sprint and Kyocera are bringing you the very first dual screen Android handset. You can two things at the same time, separately or combined, like a mini tablet that's small enough for a pocket.
6:23PM:Another option lets apps run seamlessly across both screens, 4.7" and is a Sprint exclusive to be available this spring for $199.
6:23PM:In a few minutes you'll be able to see first hand how the Echo can bring extreme multitasking. Kyocera exec is on stage speaking with Dan
6:24PM:I have to stay standing next to Dan Hesse, I wish David Blaine would make me 6 inches taller...
6:25PM:We're excited to introduce this first of a kind device.
6:27PM:And they're off!
6:31PM:We wanted to make sure this was pocketable, it's got two 3.5" displays, and we have found that a lot of devices were caught in this middle ground, 4.5" screens to 7", didn't want a hybrid product.
6:32PM:You can actually scroll through using both orientations in dual screen mode.
6:33PM:The dual screens are pretty amazing -- multiple things at once, and in the email app you can use one for selecting messages and one for actually reading the message.
6:35PM:You can use both screens in many different practical ways, like playing a video while browsing other photos and videos with the bottom screen, very cool.
6:36PM:They're showing how you can upload to Facebook and how large the keyboard is on the bottom screen -- it's huge, larger than a physical keyboard.
6:37PM:VueQue is a new app that lets you que up YouTube videos, so you can drag and drop different videos and it will play through the videos in the queue, even when you're out of the app
6:37PM:Explaining Simul-tasking...
6:38PM:When you tap both screens you get a task manager for both screens and can select your apps that you'd like to appear
6:39PM:Demoing text messaging at the top, while in the email application, waiting for the text message reply from a friend.
6:39PM:Powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor...
6:40PM:Favorite feature is the ability to have two browsers up simultaneously... two windows.
6:42PM:Make sure to check out our hands-on with the device from earlier today! Sprint Kyocera Echo hands-on!
6:42PM:He's demoing the Sims and how it looks like on both displays... there will be third-party APIs so you can develop apps to take advantage of the new dual touch screens.
6:45PM:There isn't a lot of innovation in the last 50 years in terms of battery life... people will use this with many different modes, and we wanted to include an extra charger so you can boost the power on the fly from the external battery charger.
6:46PM:It's an innovative product... We wanted to bring something to the market that was pocketable and portable that also gave you the ability to Simul-task.
6:46PM:Here's a short video detailing the highlights of the product! They are off!
Jonathan S. Geller
Jonathan Geller is the founder of Boy Genius Report, now known as BGR. What began as a column on popular gadget blog Engadget quickly grew into one of the site’s biggest draws, and Jonathan soon detached the wildly popular column to create what has since become the biggest mobile news destination in the world.
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