Tablet/laptop dock for my phone?
So, I was talking to a friend today, and it occurred to me that my phone is quite adequate, in terms of power, for the majority of my computing uses. Sure, not for development or hard-core gaming, but it’s almost as fast as my laptop, and has much more GPU power (and so is better for casual gaming), and the new dual-core 1.2 GHz versions of the snapdragon should negate the extra core advantage. With a bit more RAM, my phone could be a full replacement for my (admittedly ultra-portable) laptop. Additionally, the iphone 4 is better in every hardware respect than the ipad, except for it’s CPU being downclocked a bit.
So, here’s my proposal: someone should make a tablet doc for my phone. It should have a touchscreen in the 8-13″ range, a battery, and a hole in the back where I can dock my phone completely flush with it. That way, I can carry that and my phone. When I need ultra-portability, I can take my phone out. When I need a large screen, I can dock it, and the extra battery can even allow the phone to run faster when docked. Maybe turn off one of the cores when undocked, for example. This would give me all the advantages of a tablet and all the advantages of a phone, and none of the dis-advantages of either, right?
But why stop there? Why not have a dock in a laptop form-factor? Or maybe just a keyboard + touchpad + battery with space to dock the tablet dock. Now I have the advantages of a laptop as well. Add in a hard drive/ssd in the laptop base that automounts when you dock the phone, and it’s just about as perfect as it can be.
Of course, all this needs software support, as well. Apps have to be able to detect when the phone is docked, so that they can switch to the high-res mode to take advantage of the new screen real estate; and they have to be able to tell when the tablet is docked, so they can take advantage of the keyboard and touchpad. And I need good remote-desktop software so I can access my dev machine at home, especially in laptop mode (since it won’t be running a full Linux, only Android).
This should give me a good phone, with decent battery life for a phone; a decent tablet, with good battery life for a tablet, and not too heavy (I’m looking at you, ipad!), and a usable laptop, with decent battery life for a laptop. Of course, it will cost a lot, but it had better cost less than a laptop + tablet + phone (by quite a bit). And, all my data and apps can be in one location, and look and feel the same, no matter where I am.
So, Google: you want to own the world? This is what I want. I suspect I’m not alone. Take the wind out of Apple’s sails.
You forgot the changes needed to Android. Allowing real multitasking.
For instance, loading a webpage in the browser when you’re typing away at a terminal.
it’s what I’ve been thinking for awhile now, why so many gadgets, just get me one that will inter relate and I can choose which I need when. I would love to do away with all the bulk and yet have the ability to have a full screen and keypad when I need it.
My brother you were reading my mind. I , recently, thought
of this and wish I had the practical electronic and computer
software training to make it a reality,.
I would love to have a great smartphone which I could dock
in a laptop/Ipad type device when I wanted a big screen
and a regular keyboard. I guess when wireless air/data time
comes down you would not have to have cable, dsl, satellite
and then could sync up to home entertainment system.
Now that is the ticket.
Thought I was alone.,