Smartphone innovation has tended to sit pretty much on size of screen, thinnest and just this year bezelless design. But ZTE, a Chinese multi-national conglomerate in the telco sector, is introducing a foldable, dual-screen smartphone for its home market as well as Europe, Japan and the U.S. Not yet for the Canadian market, but the Shenzhen-based company has partnered with AT&T in the U.S. for the release of the ZTE Axon M. The plan is for this foldable smartphone to be made available next month.
The concept of the foldable Axon M smartphone is to enable users to multitask with double the screen footprint or watch movies, TV shows and sports. The ZTE Axon M is the size of a traditional smartphone when folded and features several different modes:
- Dual Mode: with dual mode, you can watch sports, while ordering a pizza online on the other.
- Extended Mode: stream, email and play games on a full 6.75-inch full HD display. Extended mode lets you watch your favorite shows and movies on a larger screen.
- Mirror Mode: Sit across from another user and watch the same content on one device. Fold the device in mirror mode and place it on a table for viewing from two separate sides.
- Traditional Mode: similar to regular smartphones.
Lixin Cheng, CEO of ZTE Mobile Devices, said the ZTE Axon M is the beginning of a significant movement of smartphone capabilities. The mobile technology ecosystem habits have evolved over the past several years, but the smartphone experience has only slightly varied throughout that time.
ZTE has gone as far to say the Axon M creates an entirely new smartphone category. ZTE added they company is committed to investing more capital in the development of foldable smartphone technology and plans to work with developers to help optimize applications for dual screen smartphones.
The cost of the dual screen smartphone will be under $25 a month for a 30 month contract, according to AT&T.