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

#1

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 11:35 AM UTC

Hey HN!

There have been a couple HN posts that others have posted about our Kickstarter for the Superbook, our shell that turns any Android phone into a laptop for $99. We didn't see them until fairly late, so wanted to do an AMA, answering questions about the technology, its applications, our production schedule, manufacturing costs (how we can price it so low), or just anything else in general.

Also wanted to put out an open offer to stop by our offices on 5th and Mission and play with the current working prototype (bring your Android phone too!). Just email me at andrew@andromiumos.com.

Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andromium/the-superbook-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-laptop-f

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

#2

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 11:41 AM UTC

A few technical questions also covered in our AMA on Reddit a couple weeks back: https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/4ty163/were_androm...

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

#3

Post by type0 » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 11:49 AM UTC

Does my phone needs to have MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) to be able to connect it? or how does it work via USB?

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

#4

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 11:53 AM UTC

type0 wrote: post #3

Does my phone needs to have MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) to be able to connect it? or how does it work via USB?

No MHL needed. We use a DisplayLink 4xxx series chip that converts video data over USB. Works with Lollipop and above.

See: http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/android

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

#5

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 11:54 AM UTC

ajiang wrote: post #4

type0 wrote: post #3

Does my phone needs to have MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) to be able to connect it? or how does it work via USB?

No MHL needed. We use a DisplayLink 4xxx series chip that converts video data over USB. Works with Lollipop and above. See: http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/android

It's also why we can work with almost any modern android device. Only USB-OTG support is needed.

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

#6

Post by a_lifters_life » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 12:18 PM UTC

How really does this work? I plug in my android 5+ smartphone, and I can access my apps on it?

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

#7

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 12:20 PM UTC

a_lifters_life wrote: post #6

How really does this work? I plug in my android 5+ smartphone, and I can access my apps on it?

Yea. Andromium (our App) makes Android function like a familiar desktop OS, and gives apps with our SDK some additional capabilities (resizing, multitasking, etc.). Every other app simply opens up in full size mode, so you can still use all of your regular Android apps. Check out the beta: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromium.os&hl=en

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

#8

Post by a_lifters_life » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 12:22 PM UTC

ajiang wrote: post #7

a_lifters_life wrote: post #6

How really does this work? I plug in my android 5+ smartphone, and I can access my apps on it?

Yea. Andromium (our App) makes Android function like a familiar desktop OS, and gives apps with our SDK some additional capabilities (resizing, multitasking, etc.). Every other app simply opens up in full size mode, so you can still use all of your regular Android apps. Check out the beta: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromium.os&hl=en

How is this different than airdroid?

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

#9

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 12:32 PM UTC

a_lifters_life wrote: post #8

ajiang wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea. Andromium (our App) makes Android function like a familiar desktop OS, and gives apps with our SDK some additional capabilities (resizing, multitasking, etc.). Every other app simply opens up in full size mode, so you can still use all of your regular Android apps. Check out the beta: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromium.os&hl=en

How is this different than airdroid?

Airdroid is for your laptop to have access to Android apps. We're big proponents of device convergence, that our smartphones are so important and powerful now that we don't need to maintain multiple computing devices. Consider how often you upgrade your phone and how much of your life / data / files / apps are on it. For most people, 90% of their computing needs happen on the smartphone. The remaining 10% of the time is spent mainly on things like browsing, writing long documents etc - things that are simply made better by a larger screen and laptop form factor.

The benefit of having everything on one computer is that you don't need to sync files and constantly upgrade multiple devices. You get to stay in one computing ecosystem.

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

#10

Post by ajiang » Tue, Aug 09, 2016, 12:34 PM UTC

a_lifters_life wrote: post #8

ajiang wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yea. Andromium (our App) makes Android function like a familiar desktop OS, and gives apps with our SDK some additional capabilities (resizing, multitasking, etc.). Every other app simply opens up in full size mode, so you can still use all of your regular Android apps. Check out the beta: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.andromium.os&hl=en

How is this different than airdroid?

Btw for $99, we hope in a lot of mobile-first economies it'll replace the need to buy a laptop. Most people in those economies are Android users, familiar with Android apps - and we can extend the OS they're already familiar with to the laptop environment.