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We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

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Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#21

Post by ajiang »

davidiach wrote: post #18

How do regular apps like Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter etc. look like on the device. Are they stretched out versions of the Phone apps?

Right now, landscape mode versions of the phone apps. Part of the work we need to do as a company is to build out our developer ecosystem, so companies can allow the Tablet versions of their apps to show in multi-window mode when plugged into the Superbook.

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#22

Post by ajiang »

tikumo wrote: post #20

Already bought the Nexdock.. I would really like to see a slot for the phone, like the old Asus Tablet where you could insert a telephone in the back.

That's cool! We're big fans, and Nexdock is great for Windows mobile phones. We are not compatible with Windows mobile phones at all.

The slot is interesting, but makes it hard to fit with every phone. One of the biggest challenges of Android is the fragmentation across devices, OSes, and experiences. We wanted to make this accessible to ALL Android devices, so that's why we opted for the side mount option instead.

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#23

Post by ajiang »

I'm serious about the offer to visit our office. We know Kickstarters have a bad rap for vaporware that takes forever to deliver. You can visit and play with our working prototype. You can try our software beta on your Android phone. And if you're in Shenzhen next week, you and I can kick it at one of the CMs we're looking at (currently in Shanghai myself).

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#24

Post by ajiang »

tikumo wrote: post #20

Already bought the Nexdock.. I would really like to see a slot for the phone, like the old Asus Tablet where you could insert a telephone in the back.

By the way, the one thing I will say if you want to use your Android phone as a laptop is that there's a major difference in using USB vs. using casting. Aside from the latency issues of casting, you can only send video screens in casting -- and you have to buy the casting device. Android devices typically don't have a video out, so outside of using USB / DisplayLink, the experience is really poor.

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#26

Post by daveguy »

How well does it work without Andromium? For instance:

Can I enter directly to the phone with the keyboard? Does the phone screen show on the large screen without Andromium? Is the large screen a touch screen?

Even more important -- if I have a rooted/virtual machine instance of a standard Linux distro running on my smartphone, can I use that? Do I have to use Andromium if I have a setup like a rooted chromebook? Turning the smartphone into a laptop it seems the biggest limitation would then be the app store. I don't want it to "feel" like a computer. I want it to be a computer -- OS and all.

One final question. What is your privacy policy, open vs closed source and permission requirements for Andromium and why?

This is a great idea, but I am raising a serious eyebrow at the Andromium aspect of it.

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#28

Post by ajiang »

ChartsNGraffs wrote: post #25

I remember a while back there was the similar ClamCase Clambook[1] (all manufacturer links now non-existent). It never shipped. Any relation to that project? 1 - http://www.zdnet.com/article/clambook-turn-your-smartphone-i...

None at all! Although we've gotten in touch with the founder, who is a super nice guy. He mentioned about the challenges of software - near impossible on iOS.

And actually of all of the various attempts at this, the primary failure was that the software experience was so poor. We've been working on the software side (Andromium) for over 1.5 years, with a bunch of feedback from a pretty awesome community :)

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#29

Post by ajiang »

ChartsNGraffs wrote: post #27

Do I have to run Andromium to use it or can I also use my current setup and have it simply mirror my display with keyboard/mouse?

You don't need to, but the mirror of your smartphone display sometimes ends up being a fully portrait screen - not the best experience.

Re: We're Andromium. Making the Superbook, a $99 Android Laptop Shell. AMA

#30

Post by ajiang »

daveguy wrote: post #26

How well does it work without Andromium? For instance: Can I enter directly to the phone with the keyboard? Does the phone screen show on the large screen without Andromium? Is the large screen a touch screen? Even more important -- if I have a rooted/virtual machine instance of a standard Linux distro running on my smartphone, can I use that? Do I have to use Andromium if I have a setup like a rooted chromebook? Tur…

It works fine without Andromium, but it is just a larger version of your phone screen.

The answer is Yes. As long as the device you're working on as a displaylink driver, you can use it. In fact:

Superbook + Surface tablet: https://vimeo.com/176370847 Superbook + Mac: http://imgur.com/a/oZwwN Superbook + PC Stick: http://imgur.com/a/eTbtm

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