Universal Android Laptop Dock: Microsoft Nightmare, Or Toy?

ozmanjusri writes with this story from PC World: "A company that makes keyboard docks has announced a laptop-like peripheral that uses smartphones for processing and storage. Since many Android and Apple phones have multi-core processors powerful enough to deliver laptop-level performance, they only lack usable screens and keyboards to be productive for most office work. ClamCase believes their 13.3-inch 1,280 x 720 ClamBook with keyboard, multi-touch touchpad, and dedicated Android keys will make up for the lack, and turn smartphones into fully-functional laptops. A device like the ClamBook could be a real game-changer for the computer industry. If it succeeds, peripheral makers could build docks which would allow any monitor, keyboard, mouse and storage to be powered by any Android phone. It's a combination which would make BYOD offices very tempting for the corporations who are the Windows/Office combination's remaining cash-cow." I only wish the company would license the idea as well to established makers, so otherwise conventional laptops could gain the ability to easily become advanced phone screens, too.

RaspberryPi + phone?

[Razgorov Prikazka]

And a nice case of course.
I'd rather have a RPi, and a phone to do the phoning.
I just fail to see that this is a "game changer". The steam engine was a game changer IMHO.

Re:And when the phone rings?

[Medinos]

By "stupid headsets" do you mean a bluetooth earpiece? May not be something everyone wants, but it still seems like a feasible option. As long as you don't mind looking like one of those people who seem to be arguing with themselves (while usually talking with their hands) if viewed from the wrong side.

Re:It's the apps, stupid!

[Inda]

Google Docs inside my phone's browser works fine, and there are binaries that open word processing documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

I wonder why a dock is needed at all. Bluetooth for the keyboard and mouse. WiFi to send the image to a monitor. All are possible today.

Re:RaspberryPi + phone?

[zoloto]

There is one office I do work for occasionally where some workers have an iPad in a custom stand with a keyboard for all their word processing, email processing, and in(ter/tra)-office instant messaging. Some have a monitor if they prefer a larger display, which many do and some use their iPhones for this as well. Granted this wouldn't work if an office required a piece of proprietary desktop (re: non-mobile) software which many do, sadly. However, I know many offices where this is more than acceptable with decent in-house software apps and web apps.

Re:RaspberryPi + phone?

[dreamchaser]

I too prefer a discrete, separate phone. That's why I bought an Asus Transformer Prime. It doesn't have 3G/4G so it isn't tied to any carrier and the keyboard dock was made to match it along with dedicated Android keys and an extra battery. It's the best of both worlds from a tablet/laptop standpoint. The rare times I'm not near WiFi I use a portable hotspot which I use anyways so I can get connected on my laptop if I need to bring out the big guns for a work issue. Most of the time when I'm on the road said laptop, which is a huge beast, can stay in the bag because I get all my needs met by the tablet.

Re:It's the apps, stupid!

[Vanderhoth]

AIDE [google.com] works really well as a java IDE/compiler for my HTC Android phone. I also use Google docs for Writing reports and modifying spreadsheets, which works well enough.

Is it perfect? Not even close.

Given a choice I'd do my work on a desktop/laptop. The one major thing my phone lacks, to make it more productive, is a full keyboard, a mouse and a fill monitor. There's also a trade off in processing power for conveniences. Even without the docking station I still always have the phone to do work on when something needs a quick change, but the docking station would just mean I don't have spend time transferring code to my phone. Obviously this is for the specific type of work I do, it would be useless for writing larger applications, but for simple productivity apps this could work.

EOMA-68

[mysteryvortex]

This idea might be better implemented as an EOMA-68 [elinux.org] to android phone converter. Then you could use any EOMA-68 compatible devices with it including, but not limited to, clamshell keyboard/screen/touchpad devices. (I.E. a netbook shell)

As far as the RPi; I'm much more interested in this [rhombus-tech.net] EOMA-68 compatible card which uses the more powerful Allwinner A10 [rhombus-tech.net] CPU. That gets you the capability to run a complete open source stack (including GPU [slashdot.org]) and a datasheet! [slatedroid.com] (Something which Broadcom refuses to give you for the RPi even though it was designed by Broadcom employees!)

Shamelessly copy-pasted specs for the Allwinner A10:

        1.2ghz Cortex A8 ARM Core
        MALI400MP OpenGL ES 2.0 GPU
        DDR3 Controller 800MHz 1GB max
        2160p Hardware-accelerated Video playback (4x the resolution of 1080p)
        a NAND Flash Controller that is capable of 8-way concurrent DMA (8 NAND ICs)
        4 SDIO interfaces (SD 3.0, UHI class)
        USB 2.0 Host as well as a 2nd USB-OTG Interface (USB-OTG can be reconfigured as USB 2.0 Host, automatically)
        24-pin RGB/TTL as well as simultaneous HDMI out
        SATA-II 3gb/sec
        10/100 Ethernet (MII compatible)
        a 2nd 24-pin RGB/TTL interface that is multiplexed (shared) on the same pins for a standard IDE (PATA) interface.
        GPIO, I2C, PWM, Keyboard Matrix (8x8), built-in Resistive Touchscreen Controller, and much more.