<div><em>With its two screens, the Yota phone was a nightmare to use and it wasn’t easy to get anything done easily on either screen, writes <strong>Mala Bhargava</strong></em><br><br>The idea of a phone with two screens has always got me excited. But beyond the thought of how good it would look, I never considered what I’d do with such a phone. And maybe it’s because there isn’t a killer reason to have one that no one’s worked too hard on producing two-screened phones. At least not full double screens.</div><div> </div><div>In a recent round-up of attempts to come with two screens or really a-screen-and-a-bit shows how most have been abject failures. The Yota phone (and later its second edition, the Yota 2) had two complete screens but the one on the back was an e-ink screen and was meant to let the user send some functions and tasks to it and keeping them handy. Such as a book you’re reading on the back while regular phone use stays in front. Or a map you want to consult on the back while you use the phone as usual on the front. It could have been useful, except that the Yota phone was a nightmare to use and it wasn’t easy to get anything done easily on either screen. Yota 2 never even made it to India – not that the original sold in the first place.</div><div> </div><div>There have been a whole lot of other attempts including sticking a square of screen in the middle of a split additional keypad. But again, usability is an issue and it makes the phone heavier and adds to the cost without adding hugely to the functionality.</div><div> </div><div>About the most successful two-screened phones have been Samsung’s Edge phones. In fact, the demand for the Galaxy S6 Edge is said to have taken Samsung by surprise. Samsung’s are not two full screens either but rather a strip of screen that spills over the edge –one, in the case of the Note 4 Edge, and both in its later phones with this feature. The strip is a second screen, technically, but because it’s just a thin strip there’s a limit to what it can be used for and Samsung hasn’t actually taken the functionality leaps forward since first coming up with the idea of the wrap around screen.</div><div> </div><div>LG has recently followed suit with a strip of screen on top, housing frequently-used apps on top of the upper bezel. I haven’t seen that phone yet, but my feeling is that it’ll constantly catch the user’seye like an ever-present notification that’s lit up and asking for attention and action.</div><div>The kind of two-screened phone I dream of is one that has two proper fully functional same-size screens, both identical in capability. It’s undoubtedly crazy and would be like carrying two phones, but irrationally, I would probably have bought such a gadget. I would want it to be in an elegant understated case that opens up like a book.<br> </div><div>Both screens are instantly available though you should be able to customise whether both should wake up when opening the case. I would use this dream gadget to use one screen to work with a stylus on one side and consult notes on the other. Or keep a video on on one side while blogging on the other.</div><div> </div><div>Sadly though one may as well just glue two phones together or have them sit side by side because a book of two screens wouldn’t work either. With the back and all the edges having been explored for a second screen though, one wonders what the future holds for this idea.</div><div> </div><div>Perhaps it’s time for that foldable phone.</div>
