I've been looking forward to device convergence between phones and laptops for a while now so something like this is interesting to me. Given the size of current phone screens though, I think an additional display isn't entirely necessary. Personally, I'd like to see a device with a user removable battery that rests in a wireless charging cradle that I could either use as a docking interface for a keyboard and mouse or, less elegantly, I could just use bluetooth for the interface devices. Either way, physical connectors are a problem because they can wear out of break so I'd much prefer few to no cables. Picking up the phone to leave a desk would be as simple as grabbing it and leaving. If that can happen then I think we'd be a lot closer to ditching laptops and maybe doing away with the need for most tablet devices.
Not sure how it will work in practice, but it's an interesting approach. Nothing is wasted, and phones are getting to the point where that can take on laptop tasks for many users.
The original Motorola ATRIX lineup was a fantastically convenient option, but it was hamstrung by the weak Tegra2 chip and the lousy Motorola software.
With the Razer phone sporting much beefier hardware, if something akin to ChromeOS can be used this would be a solid solution for most casual computing needs. Obviously the price of the laptop dock itself needs to be reasonable; the $200 that Ian alludes to is definitely at the "high end" of the pricepoint as specs notwithstanding you could get a Chromebook (which functions without a phone) for that money.
Agree it sounds expensive for what you get. The other thing that bothers me is that when you get a new phone, you will probably have to get a new dock so you have to keep paying that price over and over. Now if they could somehow commit to making the next generation or two of phone compatible with the dock, it could be an interesting deal. Essentially your "laptop" would get an upgrade every time you get a new phone. The benefit to Razor would be that they give you a good reason to keep buying their phones. But I doubt its likely to work that way.
We know this ,we know why it does not sell , move forward not backwards. Razer keeps trying to innovate but they can't come up with anything worth a damn.
2011 was 7 years ago. Lots of things have changes since then (tech, social, apps, infrastructure, etc.) . There are many examples of past failed ideas which are reintroduced years later garnering success.
As a former Windows Phone fan, I wish Razer would release a version of the phone with Windows 10 S and this dock (even more so if it had a yoga-esque hinge). I loved how my Lumia phone just worked for the few things I needed it to do (phone, calendar, email, navigation), up until I started having bugs and issues as MS stopped providing decent support and new low-mid end devices, and I'd prefer to have just one device rather than switching between phone, work laptop, and personal tablet. This seems perfect for me if it were windows based, and potentially still perfect if it's Android based as long as I can get good office integration and get rid of Google docs.
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PeachNCream - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
I've been looking forward to device convergence between phones and laptops for a while now so something like this is interesting to me. Given the size of current phone screens though, I think an additional display isn't entirely necessary. Personally, I'd like to see a device with a user removable battery that rests in a wireless charging cradle that I could either use as a docking interface for a keyboard and mouse or, less elegantly, I could just use bluetooth for the interface devices. Either way, physical connectors are a problem because they can wear out of break so I'd much prefer few to no cables. Picking up the phone to leave a desk would be as simple as grabbing it and leaving. If that can happen then I think we'd be a lot closer to ditching laptops and maybe doing away with the need for most tablet devices.PixyMisa - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
Not sure how it will work in practice, but it's an interesting approach. Nothing is wasted, and phones are getting to the point where that can take on laptop tasks for many users.Anonymous Blowhard - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
The original Motorola ATRIX lineup was a fantastically convenient option, but it was hamstrung by the weak Tegra2 chip and the lousy Motorola software.With the Razer phone sporting much beefier hardware, if something akin to ChromeOS can be used this would be a solid solution for most casual computing needs. Obviously the price of the laptop dock itself needs to be reasonable; the $200 that Ian alludes to is definitely at the "high end" of the pricepoint as specs notwithstanding you could get a Chromebook (which functions without a phone) for that money.
Ratman6161 - Tuesday, January 16, 2018 - link
Agree it sounds expensive for what you get. The other thing that bothers me is that when you get a new phone, you will probably have to get a new dock so you have to keep paying that price over and over. Now if they could somehow commit to making the next generation or two of phone compatible with the dock, it could be an interesting deal. Essentially your "laptop" would get an upgrade every time you get a new phone. The benefit to Razor would be that they give you a good reason to keep buying their phones. But I doubt its likely to work that way.jjj - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
2011 called and it wants its failed ideas back.We know this ,we know why it does not sell , move forward not backwards.
Razer keeps trying to innovate but they can't come up with anything worth a damn.
p1esk - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
Ok, so what would you suggest they do instead?vortmax2 - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
2011 was 7 years ago. Lots of things have changes since then (tech, social, apps, infrastructure, etc.) . There are many examples of past failed ideas which are reintroduced years later garnering success.lazarpandar - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
2011 was technically only like 6.1 years ago.MetalEngineer - Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - link
As a former Windows Phone fan, I wish Razer would release a version of the phone with Windows 10 S and this dock (even more so if it had a yoga-esque hinge). I loved how my Lumia phone just worked for the few things I needed it to do (phone, calendar, email, navigation), up until I started having bugs and issues as MS stopped providing decent support and new low-mid end devices, and I'd prefer to have just one device rather than switching between phone, work laptop, and personal tablet. This seems perfect for me if it were windows based, and potentially still perfect if it's Android based as long as I can get good office integration and get rid of Google docs.