3g generation

There have been reasonably reliable reports saying that Samsung have filed a new patent that helps turn a mobile phone into something you can use as a laptop. This is not a patent filed by Google, the creators of the Android operating system, nor is it an attempt to have the Android operating system used in place of the Windows operating system on desktop devices. This is a patent that will, for all intents and purposes, allow you to slot your phone into an extension device. The extension device is a laptop with very little hardware inside. The phone acts as the hardware that turns this empty shell of a laptop into a fully functional laptop powered by a Samsung phone.

Will the laptop have a Windows operating system? The patent suggests a hybrid device. The laptop on its own has very limited (if any) function. Once the phone is inserted into the laptop, some of the functions/operations are handled by the Windows operating system, and the bulk of the processing and functions/operations are handled by the phone and its Android operating system.

What is just as interesting is the fact that the patent doesn’t say the laptop shell (for want of a better word) will be exclusive to the Windows and Android operating system. It is not likely that Samsung are going to create a hybrid device and allow Apple iPhone users to use it, but it does suggest that other operating systems may be applied. Samsung has its Tizen interface, which may be used within the laptop.

What is the biggest selling point? One assumes it will redefine portability with regards to laptops. The shell can be ultra light and ultra thin because the bulk of the technology will be carried around in the shape of a phone. It may also be extra durable because most of the delicate hardware is housed in the Smartphone. It also means that people do not need to bring their laptop when they are out and about. If you had an applicable Samsung phone, you could slot it into the Samsung laptop shell your friend owns. The shells may be kept in the office so that employees may slot their phone in and use whatever laptop was available as if they had brought in their own device.

Most of this is speculation as we cannot be sure what (if anything) Samsung will do with the technology. There are plenty of new and exciting patent applications filed by Microsoft, Google, Sony, Samsung and Apple on a yearly basis that never come to anything. Still, one wonders if this new idea may redefine the way we use laptops in the future.