Maybe you’ve dreamed of easier computing? You want a simple way to use your computer at the office, at home, and even on the go. But you don’t really want 3 separate computers with 3 separate hard drives to scan for viruses and update the operating system and the list goes on and on. The answer is simple, and Motorola with a leg up from Android seems to be paving the way … your phone is a computer running Linux (nice and secure).

PHONE AS A COMPUTER

Its a simple idea, really. You currently have to deal with a clunky desktop computer that becomes out-of-date and eventually needs to be scrapped. You face the same with your favorite laptop that will also become aged and need to be replaced. A better alternative would be finding a great monitor, keyboard and mouse and replacing the computer with a dockable “cell phone as computer”. Just plug the phone into its dock and you can use your full-size keyboard, mouse, printer and monitor to do your work. Surf, print, use your favorite word processor to write a proposal, update your calendar — most of the things a full-size computer can do now. When its time to leave for work, you grab your “computer”, your smart phone actually, and carry it with you. At your office you plug it into a dock carry on with your software and settings the way you prefer them. Pretty cool idea, huh? There’s more…

PORTABLE COMPUTING & PORTABLE MEDIA LIBRARY

After work on a bus or in a friend’s car on the way home go home, you pull out your laptop (really a monitor + keyboard + dock), and dock your phone into it … check on weather for tomorrow, plan dinner. With some time left you may log into your Gmail and catch up with personal emails (zero inbox!), then jump into GCalendar and color code events in your calendar for the next couple of days or so.

Once you get home its time to relax. Plug your phone into a dock on your LCD TV and you can watch movies from your portable media library or plug into your sound system and wind down with your favorite tunes as you start dinner. This isn’t totally science fiction… check out the video below.

MOTOROLA ATRIX 4G Promo on YouTube
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YESTERDAY’S IDEA IS TODAY’S REALITY

The Motorola Atrix 4G does MOST of what I’ve mentioned above. As far as I know its the only current “phone as a computer” for sale world-wide (as of May 2011) and it does a lot of what I’ve laid out above. Later on down the road someone (maybe Motorola) will expand on this basic idea and you will be using your phone to access a wider range of more data. Digitally recorded TV and Movies, music, documents, personal files, etc, and this will be stored on the cloud on your account. For this idea to be useful your data needs to stay portable so if you buy a new phone or switch cell phone carriers you still retain your data. Your data stays accessible by ANY smartphone that’s also a dockable computer and that is going to take vision beyond what I’ve seen with current cell phone carriers, because everyone wants your data, your business in their storage spaces – no sharing! Their is currently is no central, secure storage on the cloud with that much space that you can have for free. Possibly Google will step up with something or 2 or 3 major mobile carriers will team up and agree to share space and keep your data accessible so long as you stay within their “network”.

Beyond that look for your phone-that’s-a-computer (we really need a name for this new type of device, don’t we?) to open your garage door, unlock your car doors, adjust your thermostat at home to a comfy temperature. Oh, and don’t forget… it makes phone calls, too!

So, what do YOU think? What’s the next logical step for the smartphone/computer? What do you want or expect it to do for you?

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Engadget: Motorola Atrix 4G Video

Motorola YouTube Channel