Hackers have already shoehorned Google’s Android OS onto laptops in recent weeks, but we’ve spotted a much more simple concept that does the same thing at CES: the Redfly Smartphone Terminal, which slings your phone’s screen to a netbook, and an Android version is being prepped!
The Smartphone Terminal concept is an interesting one: there’s plenty of processing power in your mobile, but the small form factor really stops you from making the most of it.
The Eee-like Redfly links up to it via USB or Bluetooth to display it on an eight inch screen, with working keyboard, trackpad, or wireless mouse. Two Windows Mobile versions have been available for about six months now, starting at $229, but manufacturer Celio Corp debuted an Android proof of concept at CES this week.
It’s actually running the Android SDK off of a Dell computer at the moment, but Celio Corp says it’s working on a version that will connect a Smartphone Terminal to a T-Mobile G1. We tested it out, and it works as fast as you might hope – we loaded up a writing app and bashed away at speed. But is this really an easier option than simply syncing your phone with a computer? Anyone wandering around the CES floor with a bulging wallet and thinks so, give Redfly some money to make this!
Out TBC | £TBC | Celio Corp
