Well would ya look at that – Ice Cream Sandwich isn’t the only thing included in the Android 4.0 ROM  fro the Motorola DROID RAZR and DROID RAZR MAXX. There also appears to be a brand-spanking new version of WebTop, the desktop-style operating system that’s activated when you plug a compatible Motorola Android phone into a LapDock accessory. Stifle your yawns, Android faithful: it looks like this version isn’t just a spit and polish update. No, it’s more like a full tablet makeover, not unlike the shift from smartphone UI to tablet UI in the ASUS Padfone.

A couple of Motorola enthusiasts on YouTube popped their upgraded DROID RAZR into a LapDock 100 to see how it ran, and were surprised to find that the previous separate Linux OS was nowhere to be found. Instead, the docked mode is all Android, bringing in a full Ice Cream Sandwich tablet interface to the LapDock. The advantages here are tremendous: no longer are “phone” apps restricted to a separate window, instead getting the whole screen to work with just like any tablet app. Some of the previous features are gone (like a desktop Firefox browser) but overall the experience seems to be much more effective.

Observe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YooqpOqmT80

It’s not perfect: some tablet apps like Chrome aren’t displaying properly, apparently not getting the message that they’ve got a lot more resolution to play with. Even so, this makes us excited for RAZR and other Motorola users. The concept is not unlike the previously mentioned Padfone, or the rumored “desktop mode” in Android 5.0 Jelly Bean. Added features like this could really push Motorola up if they can demonstrate its usefulness. The 3.0 version of WebTop is labelled as “beta”, so expect it to improve in later (and more official) software releases.

[via AndroidandMe]

4 COMMENTS

  1. if the Lapdock has it’s own  integrated web browser app, instead of using the phone web browser, it would be bad ass. Cause using the phone web browser using up a lot of the phone RAM and therefore the app crashing cause of the RAM overload which sucks! 

  2. if the Lapdock has it’s own 
    integrated web browser, instead of using the phone web browser, it would be bad ass. Cause using the phone web browser uses up a lot of the phone RAM which causes the app to crash cause of  Overload RAM usage which sucks! 

  3. No firefox or other full browser makes lap dock 100 worthless. I will be getting my
    money back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Flash player does not work on Android 4.04

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