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Samsung's Upcoming Galaxy S8 Smartphone Could Run a PC - Report (cnbc.com)
Samsung's upcoming flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone could give users the ability to plug it into a screen and turn it into a desktop personal computer, according to a media report. From the article: The All About Windows Phone blog posted a leaked slide from a presentation showing a Samsung smartphone being connected to a screen with a keyboard and mouse. The slide is titled "Samsung Desktop Experience" and shows a phone powering a screen to create a multi-tasking interface, presumably running on Google's Android mobile operating system. There is not much more information on the slide than a visual representation, but if this is true, it'd be an interesting feature that Samsung will tout as it launches its next flagship phone, one that is crucial to make up the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 which was subsequently recalled.
And have no battery life..
No good deed goes unpunished.
with my Pixel - it has USB C, that's all that's really required. I've put mice and keyboards on my phones all the way back to my HTC EVO, which had an HDMI port BTW making this sort of thing much easier.
I think I probably could have done it with my HTC One M8 with USB OTG.
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"Could run a PC" - what is that supposed to mean? If it just means that you can use an HDMI cable or wireless connection to hook it up to a larger screen like a TV or monitor, then phones and tablets have been doing that for years. If it means that hooking it up to a screen allows the use of a 'full' desktop OS, then that is just what Ubuntu tried and failed to deliver several years ago. Either way, not news, just an ad.
In the documentary Iron Sky, an Apple iPhone powered an entire space craft.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
Hey guys, it seems like the New Year cheer ran well into the new year at /. central as the work on summaries has been terrible.
I presume the subject title should be "Samsung's Upcoming Galaxy S8 Smartphone Could Run AS a PC - Report" - I know TFA's title is poor, but you shouldn't be copying it along without some wordsmithing.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
...connected to a screen with a keyboard and mouse
Interesting. I've never seen a keyboard and mouse used to connect a device to a screen. This truly is newsworthy!
TFA makes it sound like this has never been done before. I presume that the "productivity" being discussed here is basically Microsoft Office or, more likely, Google productivity apps.
Big whoop. These apps have been available on smart phones for years and (micro) HDMI ports have been on Android phones (as well as Blackberry's) for quite a while as well. I guess Apple's behind on this but...
As I went through this at RIM, I was underwhelmed by the utility of a smartphone being plugged into a monitor without a reasonably sized keyboard (and mouse).
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Typical unrealistic Hollywood. Everyone knows Macs can't get viruses.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
Don't worry, you will get security updates for almost a year, after which you can simply buy a new Samsung Galaxy phone to keep your new desktop machine up-to-date and A-Okay.
Great! Now when my phone is dropped, lost, stolen or explodes (we are talking about Samsung), I don't just lose my phone but also my PC.
Support Right To Repair Legislation.
Seriously - maybe this will make people finally understand how terrible "smartphones" really are.
It's such a terrible computing platform it's painful.
This move does nothing more than offer a larger screen for feeding Netflix/YouTube needs, along with a full keyboard to serve social media addictions, which the target audience will think is "awesome", and the best thing to happen to computing since smartphones.
Security has sadly become irrelevant regardless of platform. Convenience trumps it every time.
The free market gives us a gift every once in a while.
Windows 10 has it. With upcoming update it will be able to run x86 apps on ARM platform. So platform with 1% market share will be more usable.
Boring, the Motorola Atrix did this first. Good concept poor execution. Phones will need 4-16GB of RAM to be useful. The Atrix had 1GB of ram and ran a Linux desktop. The experience was pitiful. They had the best concept by far for running phone apps in a window next to your desktop apps but the phone just didn't have the RAM to keep up. Firefox could open 1-3 tabs before it'd run out of ram and close. A full X11 stack running on Android is a good idea but only if the environment is unlocked in exactly the opposite way to how Android currently locks down the environment. You need to be able to add/remove desktop software to your phone for the concept to work.
Yup and I had one 6 years ago, along with the lapdock. So much potential, but they insisted on forcing their own repository on what they called "Ubuntu" (despite not using Ubuntu's repo) and never actually putting any useful working software in it. Sure, there was some useful software, but none of it worked; and there was some working software, but none of it useful.
It also had a fingerprint reader long before Apple or Samsung even considered it.
All in all, it was a decent phone if you ignored the crap desktop implementation; and, since the lapdock was implemented using standard ports (mini-HDMI and micro-USB), I was able to use it for a few projects (as a plug and play component), so it wasn't a wasted purchase.
APK quotes people (including myself) without context and should not be trusted. Just thought you should know.
What about fast updates and no carrier delay / let people flash a non carrier build with out knox getting in the way
Intel tried to do that a few years ago through the OEM channel when they were pushing aggressively in to the tablet market. Being able to run Windows and Android is a natural advantage for x86. Both Google AND Microsoft killed it by refusal to certify the resulting device. Even if Microsoft is cool with it now it is highly unlikely Google's stance has changed.
I thought the new model could blow up a PC.
Nae king! Nae laird! Nae yurrupiean pressedent! We willna be fooled again!
Woohoo.. and never get an update after 24 months.
Android is one of the most secure modern platforms available. Not least because by default you can't even install apps from outside Google Play, and because everything is sandboxed and running on SELinux. The issues that have been found have be mitigated by the layered security model and timely patches via Play (even if the manufacturer doesn't update the OS), which is why we see Smart Lightbulbs and Smart Fridges DDOSing away while the Android botnets are nowhere to be found.
As for why someone would want to use it as a PC, mobile phones are capable gaming platforms now and could even replace the laptop some people take on business trips.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Now, they just need to start making docking stations, and business travelers and telecommueters can have a do-it-all phone+camera+computer.
Honestly, I thought the phase-out of laptops for powerful "smart phones" that could do their work, would have been here sooner.
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
The only way I'd ever use a smartphone, regardless of how powerful it's processor was, how much RAM it had, and how much storage it had, as a general-purpose computer, is if I could install any OS and software I wanted to on it. Otherwise your 'computer' has essentially zero security -- because it's a smartphone. I'm sure I'm far from being alone in thinking this. So-called 'smartphones' are pretty dumb when it comes to security; you'd be dumb to put your entire life onto one and use it like a general-purpose computer.
I do NOT want my browsing habits on my phone, where the carrier spies on all of it and records it forever. Nooope!
This sig intentionally left blank.
Didn't Motorola (at least in one incarnation or another) already try this a few years ago?
It was a flop then, and likely would be a flop now.
Motorola already did this, the Motorola Atrix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... did not sell that well, however. M
Android is one of the most secure modern platforms available. Not least because by default you can't even install apps from outside Google Play, and because everything is sandboxed and running on SELinux. The issues that have been found have be mitigated by the layered security model and timely patches via Play (even if the manufacturer doesn't update the OS), which is why we see Smart Lightbulbs and Smart Fridges DDOSing away while the Android botnets are nowhere to be found.
As for why someone would want to use it as a PC, mobile phones are capable gaming platforms now and could even replace the laptop some people take on business trips.
A secure platform only a viable defense when it is supported, and I don't feel like supporting a revenue model where a vendors greed translates to a need to replace my newfangled mobile-OS desktop every year simply because they don't feel like supporting the "old" model anymore. I'm still running a laptop with a fully supported OS that is 6 years old now, bolstered with an increase in RAM and SSD, otherwise known as inexpensive upgrades to avoid wasting hundreds of dollars and filling landfills prematurely with "outdated" hardware.
It's not hard to see Greed scribbling away on the wall with this move. Not to mention this take-it-with-you-everywhere desktop model invading corporations, creating an fucking nightmare for Security, as if users don't lose laptops often enough.
Replaceable battery capability, yes please.
Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
iPhone 6 can already do that. Just plug in a lightning-to-VGA adapter, and you are on the monitor. Add a Bluetooth keyboard. For mousing, just use the iPhone (or a Bluetooth track-pad). Most work can be done eyes-up, even without a mouse-and-pointer. AirPrint or other can be used for printing.
You would be running iOS, but that runs Pages, Keynote, Numbers, and loads of others. Microsoft Office is available for the iPhone, but you must "subscribe" to the software. Skip that and use Apple's Pages, etc., which can File/Open and File/Save As... with no troubles. No formatting-loss or funkiness. Files are mutually stored in iCloud (or some other cloud), and thus are shared dynamically between computer and iPhone.
I don't know why Apple didn't advertise this ability more broadly. They did for iPads, but not for iPhones... Who knows why?
It's really useful for giving presentations at conferences.
Android is horrible, it cripples the system, and adds huge unnecessary complexity to the development. Some people only need a main() entry point, and to go into a loop where they sleep and poll the OS and draw the screen, why put them in the position where they're forced to jump through all the hoops of a Java VM? That can be built on top of the basic system for the people who need it. This would be horrible for a desktop. There has to be a normal mobile OS out there
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Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
Chances are though that it would make it explode, as it behooves Samsung, the company on fire that knows how to keep the flame alive. I am already burning with anticipation for this product. When it comes to making things explode, you can't beat a Samsung handset.
I know many people don't realize this, but high end smartphones have been able to do just that for quite a while now. Mouse and keyboard can be connected by either Bluetooth or USB OtG, and screen could be done either by MHL wired or wireless mirroring.
The problem is the OS and a lack of good standardized accessories. Much like gamepads, it doesn't really matter if tou have the hardware to do it if apps are not gonna support it.
Android alao gives a shit support for most of those things... I had a smartphone with a smashed touchscreen for a while, you can't use the phone without it (some functions are doable, but it's a pretty crappy experience). I had to use apps like Vysor to get by while waiting for replacement parts.
The iPhone is even worse as it doesn't suppory most accessories.
The older laptop might be serviced by changing the CPU's thermal paste, perhaps ordering a new keyboard if that's useful.
Apples and oranges. If you want a smart phone, your choice is basically Android or iOS. Windows Phone is dead, Ubuntu Phone is dead, Firefox OS is dead.
So your choice is a fairly open OS, and if you pick your phone wisely the ability to install an up to date custom ROM, or a completely locked down system with insanely expensive hardware and accessories. Or no smart phone, I guess.
For laptops, sure, take your pick.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
So your choice is a fairly open OS, and if you pick your phone wisely the ability to install an up to date custom ROM, or a completely locked down system with insanely expensive hardware and accessories. Or no smart phone, I guess.
Custom ROM implies limited or no support from the hardware vendor, and I see DRM marching in front of that "open" OS at some point, as vendors do not like it when you uninstall all that fancy adware they love to get revenue from.
For laptops, sure, take your pick.
Yes, take your pick from vendor supported options that are supported for many years, unlike the greedy smartphone revenue model that demands hardware replacement prematurely.
This entire concept of turning an apple or an orange into a watermelon is just stupid, and does nothing but serve the hardware overlords that consumers are already forced to deal with. I'd prefer to keep that greed off my desk.
It sounds like Samsung is trying to copy what Motorola did with the Atrix back in 2011. Wonderful smart phone with a keyboard/screen containing external battery that allowed it to be used as a laptop computer.
NRRPT/RCT