
The Superbook: Turn your smartphone into a laptop for $99 - chadfurman
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andromium/the-superbook-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-laptop-f?ref=19ekwh
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thomasruns
It's kickstarter which means it won't actually ship until at least a year
after it claims. And there's no way they're going to provide a decent
keyboard, touchpad and screen for $99 and still make a profit.

It'll ship late and be probably 2x that cost at which point you should just
get a chromebook. Or, ya know, use the laptop you already have.

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api
Very sad that Kickstarter has earned such a reputation.

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Uptrenda
True, but sadly he's right. I still get emails from projects I funded YEARS
ago that have still yet to ship a single product and they're still trying to
make promises.

I'd argue that these platforms create a perverse incentive for people to
exaggerate their experience and/or product to appeal to the clueless masses
but I guess that's the same with most kinds of marketing ...

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api
The same perverse incentive underlies all marketing. If you tell the truth and
make sane claims you lose to flash, grandiosity, and viral gimmicks. Over time
the whole system runs over a cliff. It's sort of a game theory meltdown thing.

It is eventually self correcting, but that usually involves a market crash and
a Game of Thrones style winter where the junk is purged.

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Animats
Chromebooks start at $149. This is just a Kickstarter price claim, not a real
price. It will probably increase after launch, after which it will no longer
be competitive.

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pawadu
I am also wondering how this can compete with something like the Asus FlipBook
Chromebook that not only nativly supports Android but also has a 11" touch
screen and a unibody aluminium design.

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dboreham
Didn't a number of major vendors (Motorola, Microsoft..) already do this and
failed to find a market for it?

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devindotcom
There's been a few all right. I remember the Celio Redfly for one. None of
them worked so well.

That said, tablets didn't work so well when Microsoft tried them out 15 years
ago, but they blew up later. Same with a number of other techs that weren't
ready. Is this the time for smartphone computers? Nah, but keep an open mind!

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c22
> That said, tablets didn't work so well when Microsoft tried them out 15
> years ago

Or when Eo/GO tried it 10 years before that!

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EO_Personal_Communicator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EO_Personal_Communicator)

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toodlebunions
I'd rather connect a display, keyboard and mouse to my phone. But the UI needs
a cursor, and a file system.

If I recall correctly Ubuntu wanted to try that, as did Microsoft. Too early
to market perhaps.

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onion2k
Android has a cursor. If you connect a mouse using a USB On-The-Go cable
(essentially a micro to full-size USB adapter) you'll see it appear. Keyboards
and game pads work too.

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sporkwitch
Can use bluetooth as well. I've helped mates replace their windows laptops
with android tablets for (non-STEM) uni coursework. Pick up a cheap bluetooth
keyboard and mouse, a tablet, and you're good to go. The keyboard and mouse
will last you a decade, easy, and buying US$100 tablets every 2-3 years,
you're looking at nearly a decade before it would cost the same as a laptop.

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pankajdoharey
Well this is very similar to what Ubuntu Phone is providing, and Ubuntu does
have a rich rich set of linux applications but not as rich as Android.

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Uptrenda
Wouldn't calling your company "Andromium" infringe on two trademarks
simultaneously?

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beagle3
Shouldn't - to be infringing it has to be in the same industry (check), and
substantially similar in sound, graphic design or spelling to the point that
it would confuse the proverbial "average person". Is "Andromium" and more
confusing than "Andromeda" to someone who wants to buy an Android phone?

It does reminds me of the el-cheapo Panashiba stereo I had as a student,
though.

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HappyTypist
I think OC meant "android + chromium".

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beagle3
yes. Is anyone who wants to buy an "android" and a "chromium" be confused by
andromium? That's the question for establishing trademark infringement.

And I mentioned my Panashiba stereo because it was an obvious mix of Panasonic
and Toshiba, but was not a trademark infringement of either.

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JustSomeNobody
Middle of the page, there's an image below the caption, "Multi-Touch Trackpad
& Keyboard - With Android Navigation Keys". What is the mechanical pencil
shown in that picture?

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jaidev
Rotring 800 Series

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JustSomeNobody
Nice! Thanks!

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whyagaindavid
Wow, people invest money even when there is NO working prototype.

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ajiang
We're in SF. Come by our offices and play with the complete, working
prototype. andrew@andromiumos.com

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Mithaldu
Don't invite people on the internet to make a trip to your office. You know
perfectly well that the vast majority of people reading here aren't even
anywhere close to you.

Show video of a person actually using it. Unedited, continuous shot. Right now
it looks like you're just plugging a phone into a macbook and then have the
macbook fake up some stuff in the video.

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lsalvatore2
But I already have a laptop..

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chadfurman
This product is best for people who have something like the OnePlus 3 but a
laptop with only 2 gigs of ram.

If you have a MBP 16gb or a Surface Pro 4 (or.. next year.. a SP5?) then this
probably isn't going to be your every-day-carry.

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camillomiller
Is Usb 2.0 fast enough for this kind of application?

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snorlaxle
From the FAQ:

Does the Superbook require MHL? Nope. The Superbook doesn’t use MHL technology
--instead, it uses Displaylink technology

Check out
[http://displaylink.com/downloads/android](http://displaylink.com/downloads/android)
for more info!

I haven't personally tried a Displaylink device yet but It looks like it works
well with USB 2.0.

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camillomiller
Ok, thanks, that makes sense. It's actually just a connection for the display
and the keyboard, after all.

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sna1l
[http://liliputing.com/2013/07/ubuntu-edge-canonical-wants-
to...](http://liliputing.com/2013/07/ubuntu-edge-canonical-wants-to-build-a-
crowd-funded-linuxandroid-phone-needs-32-million-in-31-days-to-do-it.html)

Crazy that Ubuntu needed $32m, while this kickstarter has only asked $50k.

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glandium
Ubuntu wanted to kickstart a phone. This device doesn't even have a CPU.

