Back in 1989, after being fed up with lugging around 10-pound portable computers on flights around the world, I began to fantasize about a day when a personal computer could be truly portable. However, I did not imagine a lighter, slimmer clamshell. Instead, my idea was to create what I called a portable brick or oblong device that would house a CPU and have various I/Os to support a connection to a screen, keyboard, printer etc.
In my wildest travel dreams, I had this “brick” being plugged into the back of an airplane seat in front of me where it also housed a screen and the table tray flipped over and gave me a keyboard. At a hotel, I would connect the brick to a TV and a hotel would have a cheap keyboard in the room for me to use these external devices with my brick. As I pondered this idea, I even imagined a day when this brick could be placed into a laptop shell or, at the very least, be tethered to it and serve as its CPU. The screen and keyboard would just be part of the design.
Of course, back in those days, the technology was not even close to being able to deliver and this fantasy, especially the one for the airplane, faded from sight. In my own work with PC makers, I pushed for lighter and thinner laptops to meet my goals of carrying a smaller and lighter computer with me when I traveled. However, I have always kept the idea of some type of small device that housed a CPU and provided an OS and UI that could be used with a connected screen and keyboard in my mind as I’ve felt this had potential as an alternative way to deliver on the promise of a truly portable computing experience.
Over the last few years, companies like Motorola, Asus, and others have actually brought out prototypes that used a smartphone as the core CPU, OS, and UI that was tethered to a laptop shell. Most recently, a patent emerged from Apple that actually shows an iPhone being placed in a MacBook-looking shell and served as the system’ss CPU as well as its trackpad.
But a new product introduced by Samsung this week is one of the best solutions I have seen to date. It lets the Samsung S8 and S8+ serve as your personal PC CPU and, using its OS, UI, and your data, a person can be connected to a big screen and keyboard to deliver a personal computing experience.
Called the DeX, it is a round device/dock that has multiple I/Os and includes a HDMI port to link it to a TV or monitor, a USB port for printers and various other USB supported devices, and Bluetooth to connect it to Bluetooth keyboards.
In this scenario, you just pop your S8 or S8+ into the DeX cradle and you have a PC experience in front of you ready to go. In this case, the OS is Android and the UI is based on their modified Android UI so it is very intuitive and acts just like the smartphone — but now on a big screen and with a keyboard like a desktop computer. This version of the DEX only works with these new Samsung phones and it does not appear Samsung can make it work with previous versions of their smartphones.
One of the things that has made this idea possible is the fact mobile processors have become extremely powerful in the last few years. They allow us to use our smartphones and tablets as a serious alternative to a PC in many instances. Of course, a PC or even a laptop processor can still deliver a better computing experience since it has more real estate to work with. But smartphone and tablet processors now deliver great performance that allow us to do most tasks we do on a computer, except ones that require “heavy lifting” to handle things like enhanced graphics, images, and more involved productivity.
But the one thing a laptop and desktop PC have a smartphone does not is more real estate to deliver a bigger screen and full keyboard experience.
DeX was created to address this issue. This is especially important if it is to be used for “real” productivity. This is where DeX could fit in, especially for mobile users who already do most of their mobile productivity on a smartphone.
Since I have been studying this idea for many years, I actually like the idea behind DeX and believe it has some interesting potential. In fact, I think it might strike a nerve with many mobile workers whose smartphone is at the center of their business and personal lives today.
I know this concept is a bit radical and, for many, a smartphone may not have enough power to deliver a real desktop-like experience that meets their needs. But, when it comes to extending the role of a smartphone in the lives of mobile business users, DeX gives them an important new way to use their phones for productivity. For many, it could be a game changer in how they can add a desktop-like experience through their smartphones.