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Dual-Screen Russian Smartphone to be Released in November

The YotaPhone, a Russian smartphone featuring two screens, will attempt to break into the high-tech gadget market when it enters stores in November.

The manufacturer Yota Devices is currently holding talks to supply the cell phone retailers Evroset and Svyaznoy with 70,000 units of the new device, Vedomosti reported Monday.

The model will be released in Russia this November and enter a select number of European markets this year before expanding globally in 2014.

It is expected to sell for between 20,000 rubles ($600) and 25,000 rubles ($750).

The YotaPhone, first introduced in 2012, is equipped with two screens, the first of which resembles a traditional smartphone touch screen. The second screen is more akin to an e-reader, consuming around five times less battery power than a smartphone screen. Yota CEO Vladislav Martynov said the e-reader screen is useful because it can display images for an extended period of time without fading and will be able to constantly update pages like social network news feeds in real-time.

However, some analysts are skeptical of the new device and its price point, saying that the phone will receive little support in the West's competitive high-end smartphone market, CNBC reported.

"To break into the smartphone market Yota need to create scale quickly, for example, by working with a larger partner company," Ian Fogg, head of mobile research at IHS Global Insight, said.

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