Kyocera (News - Alert) Communication Equipment Group has chosen Atmel Corporation’s Atmel maXTouch mXT224 controller to power the touchscreens of the Kyocera Echo dual-screen Android (News - Alert) phone.

The Kyocera Echo is the first dual-touchscreen smartphone. It has two 3.5-inch 480 x 800 touchscreen surfaces that can be unfolded and converted into a single-screen phone with a 4.7-inch 960 x 800 display. A patent-pending sliding liquid-metal "pivot hinge" connects the dual screens. The two screens can be unfolded completely or propped up like laptop. The smartphone uses a 1GHz processor running Android 2.2. Additional features of Kyocera Echo include a 5-megapixel camera with 720p video capture as well as support for applications like email and YouTube (News - Alert).

In a release, Nobuaki Kobayashi, manager of Kyocera Communication Equipment Group, said that “We are excited to team up with the touch solution leader, Atmel (News - Alert), to help power the industry's first dual-screen smartphone. Atmel maXTouch has proven to give users one of the best touchscreen experiences available, including unlimited touch capabilities, better precision and longer battery life. These features are important, especially with Echo's dual-screen capability.”

Helen Francis, senior product marketing manager, Atmel Corporation, said that “We are excited Atmel maXTouch is powering the touchscreens of the first dual-screen smartphone on the market – the Kyocera Echo. Atmel maXTouch continues to power the most innovative touchscreen devices. We are thrilled to give Echo users a world-class touchscreen experience when they are using the single or dual-touchscreen option on the device.”