Besides the never-ending conveyor belt of smarter and smarter Android phones that appear with consistent regularity, making it nigh on impossible to own the very latest in Android technology, there’s a lesser-known group of Android phones and gadgets you probably haven’t heard of or even imagined.
This particular breed of Android belongs in the ‘weird and wonderful category. Oddities. Sometimes a one-off. A few are still a concept not yet developed, a seed in the mind of eccentric techno wizards. Most will likely never set foot on UK soil. But here’s to wishful thinking.
Below Heavenly Android takes a look at the wackiest Android handsets and gadgets in existence… or not!
Samsung W899
Samsung W899 is probably the world’s first Android flip-phone (clamshell) touting two screens. Although Kyocera Echo is taking the credit for being the world’s first dual-screen Android phone, technically Samsung beat Kyocera to it in 2010 with this Android phone that was only available in China.
An Android touchscreen graced the front of the phone, flip it open and you found a second Android touchscreen. Whether your phone was open or closed Android was always at your fingertips.
Kyocera Echo
Kyocera Echo, while not the weirdest of the bunch – but rather the world’s only dual-screen smartphone – deserves a place in this list nevertheless. A dual-screen is nothing new of course. We are all familiar with Nintendo DS, and we’re also aware of Sony Tablet P dual-screen Android tablet and its hefty price tag of £589.00. Whether dual screens are your thing is a matter of taste but there’s no doubt that they have their advantages.
Kyocera Echo has its own unique set of optimized apps that you can use simultaneously and you can also open two separate browsers at the same time, useful for research and comparison purposes. Gaming will also take on a new dimension, once dual-core is in the mix.
Two 3.5-inch WVGA screens combine to give you 4.7 inches of usability. The rest of the specs are rather run-of-the-mill and include a 5 MP rear camera, but no front snapper, microSD up to 32 GB, Flash 10.1, a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor…
Released on the sprint in the USA on 17th April 2011, it was hoped that we would also see it released here in the UK. As yet we are still waiting and hoping.
Hasbro Nexus Robot
Hasbro collaborated with Google and created one of the most adorable robot/Android devices to date. Developed for use with Nexus S, this curiosity is a part robot, part Android. Once Nexus S is docked, the Android brain fuses with the strange but cute robotic frames, creating a robot with its own individual personality.
These cheeky little critters waddle around on ski-like feet and respond to the environment surrounding them, and the information they already have stored. A combination of sensors, camera, and touchscreen gives the robot its eyes and ears to the world.
They respond to stimuli such as shaking and tickling with virtual emotions and even recognize people already captured on the Nexus camera and know whether they are friends or enemies.