A full Ubuntu desktop, on your docked Android phone

Viva

Expert Member
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Jul 18, 2009
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I was wondering when we would start to see the phone and desktop meet :)

This is great news. Hopefully Canonical will succeed in making this mainstream. It would be a shame if this ended up as a mere hack for the geeks.
 

flarkit

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I. cannot. WAIT. to replace my laptop with a docked smartphone! :D
 

Elimentals

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The trick will be finding a super portable monitor/keyboard/mouse.

They will come out as soon as the OS is capable. OEM's have long been looking at this, for example
http://www.mobilemag.com/2011/05/30/asus-introduces-eee-pc-x101-padphone-tablet-dock-leaked/
http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/U...ries/Docking-Stations/Atrix-Laptop-Dock-US-EN

I think the phone docking option is better used for home, as for laptop, I would like to see this as soon as I dock my Eee Pad transformer to its keyboard.
 

flarkit

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The trick will be finding a super portable monitor/keyboard/mouse.

Nope. I'd just have a dock at the office and one at home. The idea is to have a single and easy-to-transport device which fulfills all the basic duties of an office tool. Plus, no need to synch contacts and appointments. It's always available from a single device. Nirvana!

I imagine doing the emailing/communicating/surfing and document editing on the phone, with large data saved on an external drive. The phone docks to a screen/kb/mouse and off you go. Need to do heavier processing? Sure, remotely access the hardcore server/cruncher at the office from the phone+dock and do what you need to without overloading the phone. Cloud computing makes a heckuva lot of sense now, with 3G+ speeds

Now picture 'generic' neighbourhood offices with rows of docks, so you could "go to work", separating your home space from the work mindset, without commuting for hours. Also, employers save on the running costs of providing office space, whilst you're saving on the costs of commuting.

I love this idea so much!
 
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Fudzy

Guest
Nope. I'd just have a dock at the office and one at home. The idea is to have a single and easy-to-transport device which fulfills all the basic duties of an office tool.

Yeah that's what I want to do but I assumed you required mobility seeing as you mentioned getting rid of your notebook.
 

flarkit

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Yeah that's what I want to do but I assumed you required mobility seeing as you mentioned getting rid of your notebook.

I just require being free of clunky, (fragile), expensive equipment which often duplicates information with my cell-phone or requires synching. Having a single smaller device which gives me similar functionality and even performance, seems awesome IMO. Do I *need* a 3Ghz processor for basic document editing with no antivirus running in Ubuntu?
:D
 

g0nt4du

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Mar 22, 2011
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I just require being free of clunky, (fragile), expensive equipment which often duplicates information with my cell-phone or requires synching. Having a single smaller device which gives me similar functionality and even performance, seems awesome IMO. Do I *need* a 3Ghz processor for basic document editing with no antivirus running in Ubuntu?
:D

I've played with ubuntu on arm processors before and I can tell you a basic 1.2GHz does the trick. It's nice to see such a positive vibe about this on the forum. It's a fantastic idea for home xbmc media centers because it's just leaving a phone connected to a tv!

Ubuntu should never need an antivirus until it becomes a commercial product. Right now people love it or don't care, windows on the other hand...
 

flarkit

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I've played with ubuntu on arm processors before and I can tell you a basic 1.2GHz does the trick. It's nice to see such a positive vibe about this on the forum. It's a fantastic idea for home xbmc media centers because it's just leaving a phone connected to a tv!

I agree, I've been excited about the idea of a smartphone + dock(s) since the Atrix arrived. Now if only Moto would've seized the opportunity to be the first to push this into the market. They were the first that I'm aware of with 2 products already shipping with docks. Make these affordable for more folks and watch the fireworks!
 

Park@82

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hmm wonder if we will eventually have phones with built in projector...

or will we be using the foldable screen tech that Sony have been showing off...

perhaps those glasses with build in display...

all with virtual keyboard of some sort.

/no dock required.
 

flarkit

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Mar 27, 2006
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hmm wonder if we will eventually have phones with built in projector...

or will we be using the foldable screen tech that Sony have been showing off...

perhaps those glasses with build in display...

all with virtual keyboard of some sort.

/no dock required.

Those would be cool, once the tech becomes affordable. I believe that a smartphone + dock could already be affordable right now. And the phone brands could already be making a solid turnover if they launched now, punting it for the office-jockies/TV-fanatics. I'm not completely sold on the multimedia side, since I don't know of an obvious, affordable means of remotely controlling one's smartphone (yet)
 

Elimentals

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More info and a full hands on by the Engadget team can be found here

Make sure to check out the 14 Minute video. Man, the more I learn about this the more I am going "I want".

What I must say: something I disagree with is there claim that they dont think "home users" will be able to tinker with it to get better performance out of it or able to install it themselves. This in my view is a punch in the face of the XDA network and open source as a whole.

Anyway I guess best we can do is wait for some Android OEM to grab this and release it on there next quad-core handset.
 
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