You’ve got a mighty powerful computer right in your pocket. It may not match a desktop or even a laptop in sheer power, but it makes up for portability and convenience. But what if your smartphone can actually become your desktop? Not by simply mirroring the smartphone display to a larger screen. We already have lots of those going around. This Andromium Kickstarter wants to give you a real desktop experience, as much as you can squeeze inside your smartphone.
The Andromium promise comes in two pars, hardware ad software. The hardware part is probably less sensational and somewhat easier to pull off. It is basically a smartphone dock, one that has a dedicated HDMI port for connecting with an external display. There are three USB ports as well for connecting peripherals, like wireless keyboard and mouse combo, and maybe a game controller for some living room gaming. And maybe one more for extra storage. That part isn’t exactly hard to accomplish with a few tricks and connectors, but the entire point of the Andromium hardware is convenience and portability.
But the real appeal of Andromium is in the “Andromium OS”, practically an operating system that runs on top of Android. This particular OS is designed to mimic the features and user interface of a regular desktop OS, taking inspiration from the likes of Windows 7 (not 8!) and OS X. In practice, that means mouse and keyboard navigation, overlapping windows, and “true” multitasking. That said, you will still be able receive notifications, messages, and calls while using Andromium OS. You can even opt to take the call right then and there without lifting up your smartphone. The OS comes with a few key apps built-in, like an office suite, media players, a file manager, and a browser. The developers behind it, which include a former Google Senior Engineer, plan to release and SDK that will let developers create their own Andromium Apps.
The Andromium promise definitely has some appeal, as you can see from various and disparate attempts at running full blown operating systems, particularly Linux distributions, inside Android, or accessories that mirror a smartphone or tablet to bigger screen, to be controlled with a keyboard and a mouse. That said, Andromium might not be the perfect answer just yet, as there are still a few nitpicks that might prevent it from taking off full speed. For one, the dock is currently designed solely for Samsung’s high-end line, in particular the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy S 4, the Galaxy Note II, the Galaxy Note 3, and the Galaxy Note 4. The micro USB flap cover on the Galaxy S5 unfortunately kept it from making the list. It’s a bit understandable that the developers would want to focus their attention and resources on the top dog, but that still leaves out quite a lot of would be supporters willing to put money into the project.
Andromium (OS/Platform) from Andromium Inc. on Vimeo.
And yes, Andromium is, after all, a Kickstarter campaign, one that is looking for $100,000 to help develop the platform, particular improve the OS. They’re not asking much for a single piece, $29 at the very least for early birds, but the campaign is yet to even reach a tenth of its goal. Still, there are 45 days left, so there might be some hope that this dream will come true.
SOURCE: Kickstarter
“The micro USB flap cover on the Galaxy S5 unfortunately kept it from making the list.”
The freakin video shows a Galaxy S5. Did you even watch it? This article is written by a moron. 1:36, check it.
Johnny5, you’re right! You can see the folded back cover as they pull the S5 from the dock. 🙂 However, I disagree with this dock being, as he says their system is in the video ‘perfectly designed’. They should make the dock so it is usable either with or without a CASE on the phone! How many of us use cases? Tons! And I, for one, who would love to try this out, am not about to go to all the effort required to remove my Otterbox Defender case, which has saved many a smartphone from my dry fingers dropping it everywhere, from my S5 just to dock it. So they need to re-think that dock, and make it usable for ALL Android phones WITH and without cases.
simply including a microusb extension cable would work.
If you choose to lump your phone around in a chunky unweildy case that is a hastle to remove, you can’t complain that it doesn’t work with other accessories.
Yeah, because protecting a highly expensive object is such a bad thing. Jeez.
Also, at least my Otterbox Defender case isn’t unweildy, quite the opposite, even if it protects ports as well.
And well, if one boasts about “perfectly designed”, then one really should think about making sure even hardcore users can use it.
The only thing that comes to my mind watching this video was “sounds like an Apple ad”
Hello and thank you for your interest in Andromium!
The dock does work with phones using most typical cases (not charger cases, but that is a bit of an overkill). We are exploring the option of using the micro usb extension to allow all user to utilize their phone with their case on. I thank you for sharing your thoughts on our project. We want to hear more from you and how we can improve. After all, we chose Kickstarter in order to make the product perfect for you before we go into production mode. This 1 minute video shows Andromium displaying multiple videos and windows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J78C4YOPyE8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J78C4YOPyE8
Ahem, Photon 4G?
playeryum, the only phones that we officially support are the ones that we have tested. We are running the kickstarter campaign to raise sufficient capital to test the +100 different Android smartphones and support all the different software/hardware combinations. Thank you for asking.
You can check our Kickstarter for updates for announcements of additional devices supported!
Don’t hesitate to ask any other questions.
This project has no future. The future of all in one computer is not this.
Will software be available separately from dock to current owners of samsung smart dock?
Great idea. How much do you figure the dock will cost? I guess you can just use your own mouse, keyboard, and monitor with it being usb? Being able to hook up things threw bluetooth would be a bonus. It should have a separate sound option. You should be able to hook it up to your tv and be able to send sound out threw bluetooth or threw the TV. If you can keep the dock affordable, then I think it will be a big hit. Back in late 90’s my computer had a 500mhz processor, and a 10gb hardrive. phones won’t have a problem with a 2.5 ghz processor and minimum 32gb hardrive.
You are absolutely right Steve! The dock will cost $29 for early adopters and $35 for later adopters which includes and the dock and the app key. Remember you get three USB connections so you can hook up your own sound system or use the TV’s with the HDMI cable. Both of those options have been tested and work!
If I could Chromecast the desktop plus connect mouse and keyboard via Bluetooth, it would be awesome and no dock needed for basic use. Would be very pocket portable.
How can I order 1 for the Galaxy S5
CFraser, That should work, but you would lose 100-300 miliseconds in delay from using wireless. That makes gaming less reliable. That is why we provided the Hacker Backer software package for people that are not interested in the dock’s USB/HDMI/power capabilities.
Lican Warrior GenarIL we are announcing the exapnsion to a greater line of phones this week, so check our kickstarter for updates! 🙂
Samsung makes the dock that they are showcasing, they launched it with note 2. It is called the Smart Dock and has a list price of $99.
I would def buy it, but it seems outdated, only using older phones with it, if I can use it with my LG G3 then I’ll def buy…
What about flash support?