Digital Home Thoughts: Motorola Atrix 4G: The SmartPhone That Thinks it's a Notebook!

"Equipped with a full GB of memory and 16GB of NAND, the Tegra 2 based Atrix 4G has one very unique feature: it can be docked into a custom ultra thin notebook chassis and used to drive the notebook. Motorola calls this its webtop dock:"

I figure I have to made the token comment about how this smells a lot like the Palm Foleo, an idea that was pretty widely ridiculed when the idea first came out. I also probably need to make the token mention of the RedFly Mobile Companion. The idea apparently seems more popular now, and with the huge increase in computing power over the past few years, a SmartPhone's capabilities may translate, at least in part, to the notebook format. I still have to wonder about many of the concerns raised back when the Foleo and RedFly were just out of the gate. The cost for something like a specialized dock compared to a netbook must be a lot lower to compel people to make the right choice and unless the dock is universal across several devices, it seems like a bit of a nightmare. As for the Atrix specifically, I really wonder why the phone has to be placed behind the screen, where you cannot see it! All I can say is that if I am using a notebook form factor, I would probably prefer notebook levels of performance, not just an enlarged smartphone screen. Does this tempt anyone?