It is a phone, but has a hdmi port, after connecting it to a monitor you have the option to reboot in computer mode, now it is computer
Why hasn’t this been created yet?
I think there have been a few attempts, phone specifically. The Surface Pro, is similar in concept, though a tablet. There’s been talks of a Microsoft Surface phone, but looks like it’s going to be android based.
Maybe heading that direction. Desktop share was reduced by laptops, reduced by tablets, and maybe tablets will be reduced by an all in one phone that can do it all. After that, maybe a watch or a ring haha
I think at this stage a product like that would be jack of all trades, master of none. If you plug it into a monitor you’d still have no full scale keyboard. I also think you’re underestimating the wild engineering that goes into making phones as small as they are and light, every possible mm is accounted for. There is also optimization, the best chip for a mobile OS balances energy usage against performance (why you might opt for the more efficient macbook air vs a more powerful macbook pro quadcore for instance). Same goes for graphics and soundcards. It’s also the case that in reality laptops themselves are engineered down to minimum size, even if you remove the monitor you’d still be talking about something the size and weight of a mac mini (staying with the mac line here).
Ultimately, after all of this, I think you’d be solving a problem that didn’t exist given the abilities to transfer files wirelessly with ease and have cloud drives.
a smartphone that can bend it like beckham.
Yes indeed! A “computer ring”
The world will just have little “computer stations” everywhere that don’t actually have a CPU in them–just a monitor, mouse, keyboard and a transmitter-type device that will send/receive signals from your computer ring. (To activate it, just hold it up to the transmitter for three seconds.) And you’ll automatically have access to your own computer no matter where you go.
Maybe we can even make it where the data from your phone/tablet is stored on your ring, too. So the only thing you need the phone/tablet for is the screen, camera, and microphone. Basically–the phone just interfaces with the ring.
One ring to rule them all.
Minority report came out over a decade ago - and I’d have thought the benchmark for future technology couldn’t have been any more crystal clear than this. . .
Attn, Steve Jobs:
You are underestimating current phones hardware powa. The rasp pi 4 is usable as a home computer and it is specs are much worse than that of the new iphone
Sup brah. This concept is actually really successful in Nintendo Switch, which is a hand held game that can plug into your TV also. Of course, this is a guarded, niche ecosystem where the novelty value can outweigh the practical compromises.
For general applications, the limitation is probably that phone hardware is optimized for mobile use. It would cost maybe a few hundred dollars more and compromise the mobile function to make a good big screen function. At that point, we should just spend that money to make a desktop computer. Engineering is about finding the most efficient solutions. If another approach is technically possible but less practical, then we tend to abandon that approach.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that compromised, mobile powered laptops have been tried before, like chrome book, but no one liked it because basically it sucked. Now, the hardware is better and tablets are starting to approach PC functionality. Still, it is easier to put the necessary hardware in a big tablet body than a smart phone. With the bigger body, you can afford a bigger screen, making a secondary TV screed less important.
I’m really not. Rasp based computers are cute novelties but nobody uses them as a main computer for a reason, or for a phone for that matter.
Iphones have 4G of ram and a 2.65 PEAK chipset with 128g hd (my Lenovo X1 Carbon is ultra portable and sports a 4.2Ghz chip, 16GB ram and 1TB drive by comparison). So not only is it abysmal as a desktop it wouldn’t compare to even an ultraportable notebook. These are pretty limiting, not to mention the graphics card issue from before. Ultimately as Ohai’s saying its just a heavily compromised system that accomplishes literally nothing in the age of cloud drives and wireless file sharing. It also would realistically require two OS’s to be efficient and workable in mobile mode and a separate OS for PC, to partition the drives a la bootcamp would be massively inefficient.
Even if you were able to build the device you’re describing, you’re left with a pointless piece of engineering. Great so you have a mobile computer, except it’s only useable when you have access to a work station to plug it into. So that requires a designated work station, OR crazy OR, you could just for a little bit more have a desktop with much greater performance and access to all the same stuff from cloud services. The obvious workaround would be to then just have an attached mobile screen, maybe it folds away for safe keeping over a keyboard so you could fold it open and have a computer that traveled with you. Now that would be a great idea if they ever invented it.
nothing wrong with a digital keyboard too. mouse is prolly biggest issue. its nice/lazy to have a mouse to navigate. constantly touchign the screen can get annoying.