These days, your average tech enthusiast typically has at their
disposal a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, and a digital camera; and
that's listing the bare minimum. That's quite a bit of processing power
and storage space spread out among different gadgets. What if it were
possible to link all those devices together into one convenient package
that uses all that computing power at once? That's the idea behind one
designer's concept for a Fujitsu Lifebook, which would come with slots
for a smartphone, digital camera, and tablet, for them all to all work
together as one super device.
The unique concept, dubbed "Lifebook 2013," comes from designer
Prashant Chandra, who submitted the design to a competition held by
Fujitsu. The laptop would feature fitted slots for various smart
devices, but those aren't for your standard connectivity. Attaching a
gadget to the Lifebook would bring all it's functions to the computer,
including using its own processor to run some of the laptop's functions.
Fitting the digital camera to the front would mean pictures could be
downloaded to the computer or other devices. Sliding in the
smartphone/mp3 player would allow music to be played and other data to
be shared across devices. The Lifebook 2013 concept doesn't have a
keyboard itself, since an tablet becomes the keyboard once slotted into
place. The tablet can also be used as a second display (like a larger
Nintendo DS) or as a digital sketchpad with a stylus. Aside from
potentially reducing the overall cost, another advantage to this setup
would be that all the devices can be synced and updated simultaneously
from the same hub.
"The proposed Lifebook is a laptop computer concept based on the
principle of 'shared hardware,'" explains Chandra. "Currently a lot of
hardware is wasted when we use separate devices, as there is often a lot
of 'repeat' of data stored and features. For example if I have my songs
on my music player, why do I have to block the same amount of storage
on my laptop? Similarly, if I have a processor sitting in my tablet, why
can it not also run/assist my laptop? If I have a fully functional
camera with its own memory and image processing power, why do I need to
have it repeated in my laptop?"
Put this way it sounds like a logical step forward for the next
generation of laptops, though there is the obvious question of being
limited to the concept's constituent devices, which would clearly be a
bit limiting for the consumer.
Chandra's Lifebook 2013 was shortlisted in the
Fujitsu Design Competition 2011.
Source:
Prashant Chandra via
Yanko Design
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