Google files patent for a laptop with a smartphone built-in

BY Valerie Richardson

Published 19 May 2014

ASUS Padfone - Google

We’ve seen ASUS trying its luck with smartphone and tablet hybrids like the PadFone. And we’re now hearing of Google launching something similar but with a laptop instead of a tablet. That’s exactly what a patent application from February suggests with plans to launch a laptop with a smartphone built into it.

The smartphone will be detachable apparently, much like the ASUS Padfone. And it is possible that we’ll see a mix between Android and Chrome OS. This makes a lot of sense given that Chromebooks are based predominantly on the cloud.

Although there’s no mention of either platforms on the patent filing, it doesn’t take a genius to guess the operating system these devices would be running, especially considering that this is a Google product.

One more interesting aspect of this proposed hybrid is that both devices can function independently of each other, which means that you wouldn’t necessarily need the phone to work with the laptop and vice versa. This is something the conventional hybrids like the PadFone cannot do, so it’s certainly a neat idea.

There’s still a long way to go until we see this come to fruition, so don’t hold your breath. It’s clear that Google is looking to integrate Chrome OS with Android sometime soon and it’s good to know that such a device is in the pipeline.

[USPTO via Android Police]