South Korean telecom company KT has unveiled a mobile phone attachment called the Spider Laptop. Although it looks like a conventional laptop with an 11-inch screen and QWERTY keyboard, the accessory has no central processing unit or stand-alone operating system because it’s designed to extend the features of a smartphone.
The first version of the Spider Laptop was developed in partnership with Samsung and can connect to a Samsung Galaxy SIII with a single cable. In the future the Spider Laptop is expected to be compatible with a variety of smartphones.
It has a high-capacity 8000mA battery, giving it up to 4 hours use, and weighs 950g. Pricing is 297,000 South Korean won (£165) for the initial metal-clad version via KT’s www.olleh.com website, with lower-priced versions planned.
Park Yoon-Young, Senior Vice President of the KT technology development department, said “Unlike conventional products that can be connected to specific terminal provided by specific manufacturer, Spider Laptop can be connected to various smart phones and laptops and consequently it will be the very first step for hardware eco-system led by the telecommunication company. The launch of products comes in various designs with full features will benefit customers who wants to make more smart use of IT devices.”
Motorola’s Atrix introduced many people to the idea of a laptop-style dock for smartphones last year, although the ‘lapdock’ keyboard and screen accessory was only compatible with Motorola products.