Now we all know that our phones are more powerful than a 10 year old desktop, though we aren’t really using this processing power for anything other than answering calls, texts, tweeting and checking Facebook. We have seen initiatives like the Raspberry Pi use this phone hardware for a cheap, low power desktop though nothing that really combines both the phone and desktop experience into one. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could walk into work, and not have to look at all the emails you have just read on your commute.
This is where Webtops come in. Except now Motorola have now decided to incorporate Webtop software into their latest phones. This enables users of those phones to not only use their phones for normal day to day mobile activities but also to plug in their phone to an dock/external screen and use it as a Webtop.
While using these phones as Webtops, you are able to use what Motorola call is the “complete Firefox” for “lightning fast” web browsing as well as a collection of web based Webtop apps. These apps include the likes of Google Docs, Citrix and Gmail. Motorola also sell docks for their Webtop enabled phones, but they don’t come cheap. With the Motorola Atrix dock coming in at $499 US, one would ask why not just buy a netbook or one of the cheap notebooks (of which there are a plethora to chose from).
Personally, I think this idea might take off if more phones start to support it. This could be the future of portable personal computing as most people have their phones on them everywhere they go. Hopefully the prices come down soon making this a more viable solution.