Is Motorola’s ATRIX 4G The Future of Mobile Computing, Homage To Apple’s PowerBook Duo, Or Both? – The ‘Book Mystique
I’ve got to admit, Motorola’s new Atrix 4G smartphone has me intrigued. Motorola is starting 2011 on something of a roll, with the critically well-received Xoom tablet in the channels and now the Atrix, which was finally released in Canada where I live last week.
The Android 2.2.1 and dual-core (operating on both cores only when docked) Tegra CPU-powered Atrix’s marquee feature is its ability to essentially become a user’s primary digital hub from which they can create, edit and interact with documents, media and content thanks to Motorola’s webtop application and with the handset docked in the optional Laptop Dock accessory that that lets the little phone support a larger, 11-inch laptop style display and a real keyboard and trackpad, two USB ports, stereo speakers, and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, but also able to take along and access their data from a pocketable device when they go mobile, since all data is powered by and stored on the phone. It’s more netbook than laptop or desktop, and you’re limited to Android software apps. or cloud Web apps., but you can at least you can have multiple Android apps running with multiple Web pages open simultaneously, something Apple’s iOS doesn’t support even on the iPad.There are also front- and rear-facing cameras for video chat and the ability to record and output in HD, and a biometric fingerprint reader for no hassle unlocking your phone while providing extra security, and two microphones with noise-reduction technology.
Based on Ubuntu Linux, the Motorola Webtop application lets Atrix users run their Android applications in a window, and multitask, browsing the Web with a full Firefox desktop browser (and of course Flash is supported), take advantage of supported cloud computing, and use HTML5 Web-based applications, email, send instant messages and make phone calls, all at the same time. and also run the apps on your phone either on a window on the bigger monitor, or optionally full-screen if you prefer. You can access your mobile Internet service and phone functions in speakerphone mode with the handset docked, and calls in progress continue uninterrupted if the ATRIX 4G handset is removed from the dock.
Using the webtop application, business users with an existing Citrix account will benefit from the integrated Citrix Receiver application that provides secure, high performance access to virtual desktops as well as Windows, web and office applications hosted on Citrix XenDesktop. In addition to the full suite of office productivity applications and email applications, users can also access an array of web applications such as Salesforce.com, Google Docs, and any HTML application or service from the full desktop browser.
The ATRIX lets you keep up to date on social networks with automatic delivery of messages through Motorola’s MOTOBLUR, feature, including the ability to locate, wipe and restore data if the device is lost or stolen, and the device can support up to 48GB of storage (16GB internal and optional 32GB MicroSD card).
Motorola is touting ATRIX as the first smartphone device potentially capable of replacing a laptop. “Consumers are increasingly using smartphones as their primary digital screens,” says Motorola Mobility, Inc. chief marketing officer Bill Ogle. “Motorola ATRIX 4G ushers in a new era of mobile computing.”
“With ATRIX 4G, we are rethinking what a smartphone can be, and literally changing the game with a new device category that combines the power of a laptop with the latest smartphone features and 4G speeds, says AT&T mobility and consumer markets chief marketing officer David Christopher.”
That claim holds some water, and longtime Mac veterans may find the general concept evocative of an Apple innovation from back in the ’90s, namely the PowerBook Duo — Apple’s dockable first sub-notebook PowerBook.
The original Duo concept was for the portable module to function as a normal laptop computer while mobile, but when you returned to home or office you could insert the closed Duo into a Duo-Dock with a full-size CRT monitor, a full set of I/O ports, a floppy drive, an internal hard drive, and two internal NuBus expansion slots, and have the composite rig function as a no-compromises desktop computer. This was a particularly compelling concept in the days before large active-matrix color laptop monitors.
Photo Courtesy http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/
There were also smaller, portable minidocks that could plug into the 152-pin Duo connector, providing a set of standard ports and a connector for an external floppy drive. The Duo was Apple’s longest-serving laptop form factor of the ’90s, and Duos were eventually built with ‘030, ‘040, and 603e PowerPC chips, but the PPC Duo 2300, introduced in May, 1994, was the last of the line, and Apple dropped the dockable Duo concept in May, 1997, replacing it with the PowerBook 2400c subnotebook.
Photo Courtesy http://www.vectronicsappleworld.com/
I always thought the Duo was a really cool, truly innovative idea, and was sorry that Apple signed off on it, but the concept’s potential was never fully realized due to the fact that the Duo laptop module, while small for a laptop in the mid-’90s context, was still too big and heavy to pack around conveniently, and both Duo and Dock were dauntingly expensive – the The PowerBook Duo 2300 sold for $3500 to $4500 depending on configuration, and the Duo Dock Plus for example cost $900.
Now Motorola has addressed both of those shortcomings with the ATRIX being a handholdable hub and it and its dock ecosystem selling for much more attractive prices than the Duo and its accessories ever did.
With a Standard HDMI port and room for up to three USB devices, the HD Multimedia Dock for Motorola ATRIX 4G offers netbook-like I/O versatility. Add a keyboard, a Bluetooth mouse, and Motorola’s Webtop application to the mix, and you’re set to work or play on a netbook-sized screen or to connect the ATRIX to an HDTV.
With an included remote you can run the HD Multimedia Docked ATRIX as a multimedia centre, using it to play movies, pictures, or music, or connect or keyboard if you wish to surf the web from your couch. It works, but we’re now getting into quite an investment in cost.
The Motorola Laptop Dock is fashionably thin, and features an 11.6-inch screen (same size as the smaller MacBook Air), a full keyboard, stereo speakers, a 36Wh three-cell battery that delivers up to eight hours of battery life and weighs a reasonable 2.4 pounds. Users can dock their Motorola ATRIX 4G into the back of the Laptop Dock to turn it into a mobile work, web, and gaming platform that’s lighter and smaller than most laptops on the market.
The Standard Dock keeps the ATRIX 4G at a comfortable viewing angle while it charges, plus, docked the phone’s smart technology remembers your preferences.
All of these desktop-use docks charge the Atrix handset when it’s in situ.
There’s also a Vehicle Dock for ATRIX 4G with what Motorola calls a “driver-friendly interface” (given the growing problem of distracted driving, I question whether that’s something we should be celebrating) and voice-enabled search and dial (note that research shows little, if any difference in the increased likelihood of crashing – about 4x – whether you;reports: using a handheld or hands-free phone while driving). However, you can get real-time traffic information and full turn-by-turn navigation from Google Maps Navigation (beta), and connect to your car stereo.
Additionally, the Atrix’s Entertainment Center feature lets you display photos, music and videos stored on the device on a big screen in your livingroom.
The Atrix smartphone module is sold through cellphone service providers (At&T in the US, Bell in Canada) at subsidized prices bundled with a service contract.
So does the Motorola ATRIX 4G really point to the future of personal computing? I think “points to” is the proper terminology. Downsizing and convergence between computers and smartphones are the dominant trend in both personal and enterprise computing in the second decade of the 21st Century, and the ATRIX could well be a bellwether of things to come. A sizeable proportion of computer users have moved a substantial proportion of their screen time on to smaller screens, whether they be smartphones, tablets, netbooks, or small laptops. One of my daughters, for example, now does most of her computing on her iPhone.
However, the ATRIX, as cool as it is, doesn’t quite make it as a full laptop replacement for production work. One obvious shortcoming is that you are limited to the Android smartphone OS and supported apps. rather than a real desktop OS environment like Windows or the Mac OS. Even humble netbooks support Windows or Linux and a full slate of production applications, although software like the bundled QuickOffice Android app does let you produce documents.
In addition, although the ATRIX 4G phone itself is reasonably priced provided you can eat the cost of a service contract, adding the dock or docks necessary to take advantage of the device’s crossover capability will bring the total price of entry into the area of high-end netbooks and Windows compact laptops, and even close to the 11.6″ MacBook Air, any of which is a much more powerful and capable platform, as long as you can live without the phone functionality, and that is a big qualification in context.
On the balance, I think the Motorola ATRIX does provide us with a preview of where the PC world is going, and its limitations notwithstanding, it’s a pretty cool concept. Of course, that was my read on the PowerBook Duo as well.
The ATRIX handset module has a 4″ 960 x 540 Corning Gorilla Glass display, weighs 135 grams, and measures 63.5 x 117.75 x 10.95 mm
For more ATRIX 4G information visit:
http://www.motorola.com/atrix
and
http://bit.ly/i3xR6j
or
http://www.att.com/ATRIX4G
In Canada, visit:
http://www.bell.ca