Motorola Plans to Offer Atrix-like Docks for More Phones in Future

[dgstorm]

Remember "way back" in January when we reported on the Atrix 4G and its dock during CES? Apparently, the dock idea hasn't been doing very well, but Motorola still believes it is a good enough concept that they are going to try again and push it a bit harder. According to a statement from the CEO of Motorola, Sanjay Jha, Motorola plans on creating and releasing more lapdock devices for smartphones in the second half of this year. Here's his official word,

You will see multiple devices from us in the second half launching with these capabilities, and we will expand the range of our Lapdock devices so we cover a broader price point, addressing both the enterprise premium tier as well as more consumer tiers.

He also added, "We plan on introducing successive iterations of our Webtop software and accessories that incorporate improved productivity tools and multiple price points." Interesting... I wonder if the Droid 3 will get this functionality? If it did, would it be something you guys would be willing to invest extra money in?

Source: Android.net via Engadget

 

[johnomaz]

Ya, there was a news item not too long ago saying that all future Tegra2 phones from Motorola would have docks available for them.

 

[Jaxidian]

Integrated Portable Devices

Hey, look at that. Another announcement supporting my industry speculation about Integrated Portable Devices!

Once we do this tablet-to-laptop integration for a while, we'll soon start having phone-powered tablets. Then, ultimately, we'll have phone-to-tablet-to-laptop integration. Then, finally, people will realize that we're wasting a LOT of time/money/effort/natural resources with the churn of these things and will start to standardize on interfaces/features/ports/etc. But one step at a time. It's exciting seeing this play out, though!

 

[Jaxidian]

Ya, there was a news item not too long ago saying that all future Tegra2 phones from Motorola would have docks available for them.

Any chance you can share a link to this? I'm interested.

 

[kodiak799]

Before busting out more of these devices they should come up with one that does more than just run Firefox

 

[funwheeldrive]

I hope they are under 300 dollars.

 

[Jaxidian]

Before busting out more of these devices they should come up with one that does more than just run Firefox

Isn't this a question that should be aimed at Android, not necessarily the device manufacturers? Perhaps a standard to begin to allow tablet-like functionality on a phone when connected to a larger screen? And isn't this where Android is working on moving to with the whole merging of Android/Chromium (and even Google TV) code?

I agree, and so do they! Unfortunately, we'll just have to wait until it the software side of things are done. Patience, my padawan.

 

[Backnblack]

This would only interest me if the docks were standardized.

 

[Jaxidian]

This would only interest me if the docks were standardized.

Give them another ~2-3 years and they'll start to be. Maybe in ~0.5-1 years a dock will fit multiple phones by the same manufacturer but in ~2-3 years, they'll start to consider the larger picture, I think.

 

[Backnblack]

This would only interest me if the docks were standardized.

Give them another ~2-3 years and they'll start to be. Maybe in ~0.5-1 years a dock will fit multiple phones by the same manufacturer but in ~2-3 years, they'll start to consider the larger picture, I think.

It took them over 15 years to get the charger even somewhat standardized...

 

[kodiak799]

It took them over 15 years to get the charger even somewhat standardized...

Yeah, forget standardized docks. They want to make money every time people upgrade their phones which, theoretically, phones will be powerful enough before too long that people might keep a phone 3-5 years (like a PC).

Now, standardized docks/keyboards that connect via bluetooth could emerge from 3rd party vendors. And so the question becomes how much functionality OEM's/Android enable via bluetooth. Although some sort of cradle and a variety of HDMI/USB adapters would do the trick as well.

 

[sst45jeff]

needs to be cheaper than a laptop.

must be cheaper than a low end laptop or tablet to justify going that route.