It’s been a while since LG stopped making handheld tablets. But the company just introduced a new kind of TV that’s… basically a big tablet placed atop a stand.
The LG StanbyME is a 27 inch display with a built-in battery that provides up to 3 hours of viewing time. And while you can use a remote control to interact with the TV, it also supports touch input. But unlike most tablets, the StanbyME is placed atop a moveable stand that you can move from room to room thanks to wheels.
LG says the screen can be rotated for use in landscape or portrait orientations, and it also supports tilting and swiveling, allowing you to adjust the viewing angle so that it’s comfortable to use whether you’re on the couch, in the kitchen, lying in bed, or just about anywhere else.
While LG is positioning the device as a smart TV rather than a tablet, it has a user interface designed to work with touch input and support for services like KAKAO WEBTOON with support for mobile-like gestures including taps and swipes.
LG says you can even use the StanbyME for video conferencing… although it doesn’t have its own camera and microphone. Instead there’s a removable cradle that can be placed atop the display, allowing you to use your phone’s hardware for voice or video calls. You can mirror the phone’s display to the StanbyME via wireless screen sharing (with Android and iOS support), or use a PC with the display via a USB, HDMI, or wireless connection.
There’s no word on how much the LG StanbyME costs, when it will go on sale, or if it will be available globally. But LG plans to show off the unusual TV/tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
This is an odd, interesting idea. The battery and stand make it look like it could be used as a digital, optionally-interactive sign for conferences, etc.
I would put a couple big user-replaceable batteries in it and put them in the base as weight. Otherwise a small non-replaceable battery is just a sorely missed opportunity and sets a short lifespan for it to be discarded early as e-waste.
Something like this really should just run a general purpose operating system and have a few USB ports for peripherals.
I mean I could throw something together that does the same stuff and lots more with an old laptop/UPS and mini PC/phone with displayport out, an appropriate monitor, some speaker stands, some scrap wood, and hardware store wheels.
All a matter of cost I suppose. For what little you can do with it compared to the setup I described or an M1 iMac on a floor stand, it had better be cheap.
I’ve actually been thinking about putting together something like this using only a photography light-stand (on wheels), combined with a generic monitor arm that is capable of holding onto a tube shaped mount using a clamp.
https://www.amazon.ca/Heavy-Duty-Adjustable-Photography-Monolight-Photographic/dp/B08PJXQ6V6
https://www.amazon.ca/HUANUO-Monitor-Computer-Adjustable-Rotation/dp/B07X127QTL