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The Asus Padfone X is a 5 inch smartphone that comes with a 9 inch tablet dock, letting you turn your phone into a tablet simply by sliding it into a dock. The phone is the brains of the operation, which means you don’t need to sync your data (it’s all on your phone), or install apps twice. And you don’t need to pay for a tethering plan, since the tablet doesn’t connect to the internet at all… only your phone does.
AT&T’s been promising to bring the Padfone X to market in the United States since January, but the company has yet to announce a price or launch date.
As the phone marches towards release it passed through the FCC in March. Now it’s gained certification from the WiFi alliance as well. Maybe one day you’ll even be able to buy this phone/tablet hybrid.
Here’s a roundup of tech news from around the web.
- Asus Padfone X receives WiFi certification
The WiFi documents confirm the device will run Android 4.4 KitKat, features 802.11ac WiFi with support for 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks, and WiFi Direct and Miracast technology. [WiFi Alliance] - Microsoft reminds us that Windows XP is no longer receiving security patches or other updates
April’s Update Tuesday was the last ever chance to get software updates for Microsoft’s defunct operating system. You can continue to run Windows XP for as long as you’d like, but unless you’re using third-party anti-malware, you’re running an ever-increasing risk of encountering security vulnerabilities or other flaws. [Windows Blog] - Open source 3D graphics drivers for Freescale i.MX6 are incoming
The folks behind the Novena open laptop hit their first stretch goal, which means they’ll be working with developer Jon Nettleton to bring open source 3D graphics drivers to the laptop… and to any other device with a Freescale i.MX6 processor. [Novena/Crowd Supply] - Report: Samsung’s Tizen-powered answer to Google Glass is coming in September
Google Glass my grab all the headlines… but it might not be the only game in town much longer. [Business Korea] - HP Chromebook 11 with unannounced color scheme shows up in Australia
Don’t get too excited — the notebook has all the same specs as the models we’re used to seeing. It just looks more like a shrunken HP Chromebook 14 than other HP Chromebook 11 models. [OMG Chrome] - Google Spell Up Chrome experiment is a word/spelling game that uses Chrome’s new Speech API
The game is an impressive demonstration of what you can do when you use the speech recognition and audio APIs built into Chrome… but it’d be even more fun to play if it didn’t constantly mis-hear you, or if you could spell words more quickly. [Google Blog] - Buy a Google Nexus 7 in the UK, get £50 to spend in the Google Play Store
Because you really needed another reason to spend money on a Nexus 7, right? [+Google UK] - Humble Bundle launches 2 weeks of daily bundles
Popular bargain site Humble Bundle offers a group of games, eBooks, or other digital content for one low price (which you get to choose) with new sales launching on an occasional basis. For the next two weeks the team is stepping things up with a new bundle every day. [Humble Bundle] - Thanko launches a thumb-shaped stylus for big phones (or short thumbs)
Sadly, with the ever-growing size of smartphone screens, this thumb-shaped stylus actually makes sense. [Akihabara News]
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Anyone working on a phone that has notebook and desktop docks where the docked OS is a full desktop Linux OS?
I mean products that have actually been announced. I’m not really interested in making my phone into a tablet but making it into a full notebook and desktop with a desktop OS would be great.
It’s funny that there was an Asian released XPPhone as well as a followup Windows7 based full desktop phone sized device but it seems NO ONE has come out with a Win 8 smartphone sized device and optimized UI.
ESPECIALLY considering all the engineering and new product releases. The x86 processors and platforms to run full Win8 do exist, but no one has bothered putting Win8 on it.
As for Linux, it seems the only hope is Ubuntu Touch but progress is slooooooooow. Honestly wonder why no one is promoting/shipping commercial grade phone + dock w/ desktop OS. I think the market would be huge, and I been waiting years already.
I think I’ve officially given up on this thing. I think it’s a great idea; I’m just tired of waiting for it.