Google had filed a patent for a laptop with built in smartphone device in 2012. According to reports, US patent 8,649,821 has been approved in February this year that shows a smartphone that can be detachable from a laptop. The patent do not mention anything specifically, but we may soon be seeing a laptop in the market that runs on Chrome OS which can work with an Android smartphone. Smartphone’s data connection can be used to access the internet on the laptop on the go. However, major smartphones support WiFi hotspot feature for this use.
The photos included in the patent filing shows a laptop device with a dedicated smartphone slot. This is similar to the Padfone series of Asus. Moving on, both devices can function independently, which means that it is not necessary to use the phone and the laptop at the same time. The laptop also uses the cell phone’s microphone and speaker when the user wants to make VoIP calls or for any other voice functions. The phone will tap into the laptop’s speaker, and will probably be able to use the laptop’s battery to charge as well.
Motorola had tried this similar combination of the device years ago with the Atrix 4G and its laptop dock. However, it must be noted that a filed patent does not confirm that the company is working on this device. Whether Google is working on this device is not important but it somewhat indicates that the company is planning to integrate its mobile platform Android and its desktop and laptop platform Chrome OS.
Via: Via