We humans are such demanding creatures - we want the world and then some. Luckily, there are concept designers out there who are willing to cater to our whims. For those of you wishing tablet PC's had a usable keyboard and the smartphone had a bigger screen feast your eyes on the Smartbook concept. It’s a phone handset that folds out into a QWERTY keyboard that can sync with its personalized PC tablet.
The Smartbook concept consists of two separate units - a tablet PC and a smartphone that folds out into a QWERTY keyboard. In smartphone configuration the unit can be used to enter numbers and for talking, but relies on the tablet for functionality. It has a touchscreen pad, camera and microphone on the outside, while the keyboard itself is hidden away within the unit.
When unfolded to reveal the QWERTY keyboard the unit connects to the tablet PC via a magnet which allows both units to be charged simultaneously. They can also be recharged separately or, if only one unit requires recharging, the power can be interchanged between the two units. The units run on either Chrome OS or Android OS.
On its lonesome the tablet PC unit's 7-inch screen size makes it big enough to serve as an eReader, but small enough to remain portable. An installed gravity sensor allows it to switch automatically between portrait or landscape mode.
The Smartbook was designed by In-oh Yoo & Sun-woong Oh for Metatrend Institute and is currently just a concept - but we wouldn't be surprised to see a similar form factor adopted at some time in the not too distant future.
Yanko Design via Gizmodo