In news that will likely disappoint very few, Motorola has officially killed off its custom webtop software and lapdock mobile accessories. First introduced at CES in early 2011, this was Motorola’s attempt at creating the ultimate portable business and computing solution. Docking a phone into a shell of a laptop to create a computer experience – what an innovative idea, right? Well, after hitting stores under a sky-high pricing model, the accessory line failed to take off. The slow, buggy, and limited software also didn’t help the cause.

It was pretty obvious that this move was coming, after seeing the UI for webtop in Ice Cream Sandwich switch to a full tablet mode. But now, the end is here. It’s one of those solutions that I wish would have been done properly, but unfortunately, it just never was.

Will you miss the webtop and lapdock idea?

Via:  CNET

Motorola’s Webtop and Lapdock are Dead. is a post from: Droid Life

If for some reason, you still find yourself in need of a Motorola Lapdock and own a DROID Bionic, then look no further than today’s deal over at DailySteals. Since Motorola has essentially killed the Lapdock now that former CEO Sanjay Jha is no longer in control, you’ll probably find fire sales like this all over the internet. In fact, Verizon is willing to part with them for $50 if you can find a store with any in stock.

I personally cannot stand the Lapdock. I own both the Bionic and RAZR versions and have found them to be completely unusable for long periods of time. The idea may have been good on paper, but the execution, like many Motorola products over the last couple of years, was terrible. But again, if for some reason you can’t move on in life without having owned a Lapdock, today is your day.

Buy.

Cheers to everyone who sent this!

DROID Bionic Lapdocks Available Today Through DailySteals for $60 is a post from: Droid Life

It seems like the only time we bring up Motorola’s Lapdocks these days is to tell you when they are on sale. Today is as close to free as you are going to get on these devices. Reports are filtering in that you can pick up a Bionic Lapdock for $50 brand new at Verizon. Other reports are that these are out-of-stock so if you have a Bionic it might be worth a call to your closest Verizon store to see if you can get in on the deal.

Via: Droid Forums

Cheers Greg!

Deal Alert: DROID Bionic Lapdock Now Going for $50 Brand New at Verizon is a post from: Droid Life

If any DROID Bionic owners have been holding off on picking up a lapdock, then you may want to strike now. Down from their price of $500 (that’s what the site says), you can pick one up for only $90. With the lapdock, you can charge your device, cruise the web in style, play games, and watch all the videos you want on a full display. It is sort of a novelty item in terms of computing power, but for someone who enjoys toys for their devices, it will serve you well at this price.

If the Bionic does indeed receive Ice Cream Sandwich, we expect that it will have the Webtop 3.0 beta software, which would be a definite bonus for owners. With the 3.0 software, once you connect the device into your lapdock you are greeted by the standard ICS tablet UI, complete with app drawer, notifications in the bottom right, and everything else you would expect from the ICS tablet experience.

Buy

Cheers Daniel!

Motorola DROID Bionic Lapdock Selling for $90, Non Refurbished is a post from: Droid Life

Motorola made a bold move last year by trying to introduce a line of accessories into the game called Lapdocks. They were like mini netbooks in size, however, on the inside they were completely different. In fact, there really was no inside – the dock was a screen, keyboard, mousepad and battery. The rest, meaning the power, all came from your phone after it was “docked” onto it. The idea is actually pretty brilliant, unfortunately for Motorola, the execution was all wrong. The software was buggy, the initial devices were not universal, and the price was beyond unreasonable. At $200 to $300 for again, something with no guts in it, you were better off just buying a netbook and calling it a day.

For those of you that were at least intrigued by the idea though, today is your day. 1saleaday is selling them brand new (not reefurbished) for the DROID Bionic at $80.

Buy.

Cheers Jaxun, Big Fonz and Robert!

Deal: DROID Bionic Lapdock Available for $80 is a post from: Droid Life

Most people can’t justify spending $300+ for Motorola’s LapDock 500. It’s a device and feature that has potential, but until Motorola adds some polish, that price may not be worth it. But what if you could score one for $149? Would that be worth it? If you game Verizon’s accessory system a tad, you can have it for that price today. The instructions below will walk you how to purchase the accessory by choosing the DROID 4, but according to Motorola, the RAZR and RAZR MAXX are also compatible with it. 

Instructions:

1.  Go to Verizon’s site.
2.  Click the big “Shop” button up top.
3.  When the page loads, scroll down and click “View All” next to Accessories.
4.  Click on the “DROID 4.”
5.  LapDock 500 should be the first option, simply click “Add to Cart” from that page.
6.  Go straight into your cart and you should see it for $149.99 rather than the $249.99.
7. Checkout and enjoy.

Cheers Kickin Wayne!

Sneaky Deal: Motorola LapDock 500 at Verizon Only $149, Compatible with the DROID 4 and RAZRs is a post from: Droid Life

If the original Lapdock that was available for the DROID Bionic wasn’t fulfilling your needs, there is a new version on the way that may be worth a look.  The Lapdock 100 was announced today by Motorola, giving them flexibility in the webtop game going forward. Rather than having to build a new piece of hardware for each webtop-enabled phone, the 100 allows them to use a cable to connect phones instead of physically docking them.

The Lapdock 100 will have a slightly smaller 10.1 screen, ergonomically-slanted keyboard, and is incredibly lightweight at just 2.2lbs. Available on AT&T first (likely for the Atrix 2), it will make its way to Verizon later in the 4th quarter. No pricing has been announced.  

New Motorola LAPDOCK™100 Coming Soon to Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and AT&T

Motorola Mobility today introduces the latest smart companion device for its premier line of webtop-enabled smartphones with the arrival of the Motorola LAPDOCK™ 100. Unleashing the full-scale power of select Motorola devices, the new Motorola LAPDOCK 100 gives consumers the ability to reach the ultimate smart mode, play mode, or productivity mode.

Equipped with a bright 10.1 inch high resolution screen, high quality audio, large ergonomically-slanted keyboard with dedicated Android™ keys, touch-pad, multi-tasking capabilities, and desktop-class tabbed web browsing using Wi-Fi or the smartphone’s data plan, the innovative companion device is now more affordable, lightweight, and intuitive.

Motorola LAPDOCK 100 supports full multi-tasking – making it easy to respond to an incoming text or take a call while browsing the web, using any one of the thousands of Android™ apps available, viewing pictures, or listening to music.

Owners of supported Motorola webtop-enabled smartphones can view multiple windows simultaneously, watch or share their favorite movie, type long emails or text messages, and even create full documents with a new keyboard and integrated two-finger scroll touch-pad. Motorola LAPDOCK 100 with webtop includes a recently updated full Firefox® browser and Adobe™ FLASH™, delivering broad compatibility across more content and more sites. Work documents can be viewed using the popular PDF format, edited and shared using QuickOffice™ or Google® Docs, or even printed to a long list of supported printers through the integrated MOTOPRINT™ application. Motorola LAPDOCK 100 also includes a PC-like File Manager, making it convenient and intuitive to view, copy, paste, move or delete files on your smartphone or its integrated SD card. And if more space is needed, the device’s two USB ports support USB storage, so hard drives or thumb drives can be used to back-up or transfer content such as personal pictures, video, or data to and from your phone.

At a mere 2.2lbs (less than 1Kg), Motorola LAPDOCK 100 is designed to be as mobile as its owners’ lives. Compact enough to carry in a back-pack or briefcase, use in the office, in the classroom, at a café or on the couch at home, the device’s up to five hour* battery charges the phone so a user never loses their freedom to be mobile.

Motorola LAPDOCK 100 is compatible with multiple Motorola smartphones, including Motorola ATRIX™ 2, PHOTON™ 4G, and DROID BIONIC by Motorola.** It will also be compatible with future Motorola webtop-enabled devices.

The Motorola LAPDOCK 100 will be available online at AT&T on 10/17. It will also be available through Verizon Wireless and Sprint later this quarter.

For more information on Motorola LAPDOCK™ 100, visit www.motorola.com/lapdock100.

*Battery life dependant on adjusted screen brightness, speaker volume and other factors.

**Software update may be required for optimized experience.

Certain features, services and applications are regional and network dependent and may not be available in all areas; additional terms, conditions and /or charges may apply. All features, functionality and other product specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation. Contact your service provider for details.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Motorola Trademark Holdings, LCC. Android and Google are trademarks of Google, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 Motorola Mobility, Inc. All rights reserved.

Motorola Announces Lapdock 100 for Webtop-enabled Phones Including the DROID Bionic is a post from: Droid Life

One of the most interesting yet useless accessories to the Droid Bionic is the lapdock. When I first saw it at CES I thought it had some potential even though I was astounded that it came with Firefox instead of Chrome. As the reviews came out and I finally spent some time with it, it became obvious that it was hardly useful between the half-baked OS and the horrible mouse and keyboard. That said, I do think that Motorola had a great idea with a bad implementation.

As phones become more powerful and limitations are breached, we’ll still have the issue of trying to do something on a small screen that works better on a larger screen. Motorola’s lapdock and desktop adapter are both trying to give users other form factors to interact with their content on their phones. The problem is, I don’t think Motorola really understands what problem they’re trying to solve (if any). 

I’ve never had the desire to use my phone on a larger screen, except for something like a game. I think that is why many people avoided the original Galaxy Tab and waited for Honeycomb – they want a different experience on different form factors. Google’s UI makes sense on a phone, but it doesn’t translate in a mouse and keyboard implementation. Motorola’s attempt to remedy that issue with an application dock and Firefox (seriously, how did Andy Rubin not demand they make the browser Chrome?) gave the illusion of a desktop experience without really delivering.

I think the problem that a laptop or desktop implementation needs to address is twofold: notifications and applications. When I’m working on my computer I usually have my Gmail and TweetDeck running in Chrome to notify me about new emails and replies on Twitter. The problem is, I usually have my phone right next to me as well for phone calls and text messages. For phone things that’s fine, but I end up having a notification on my phone and on my desktop for new tweets or emails. The Gmail notification will disappear on my phone once I check my email on my desktop, which is fantastic, but the Twitter notification will stay there until I dismiss it regardless of what application or website I use to read my tweets. This notification problem is only multiplied when you add a tablet to the mix. Instead of finding my multiple devices giving me increased productivity, I find that I’m dismissing notifications left and right instead of getting things done.

The other problem that needs to be solved is the problem with applications on lapdock and deskdock form factors. The ASUS Transformer represents one possible solution: use a mouse and keyboard on Honeycomb. This solution may fit some users’ needs, but I don’t think it’s the best solution. A second solution would be for Google to develop their own desktop OS like Windows, OS X, or Linux for lapdocks to boot into. At this stage in the game, however, I don’t think Google sees any value in creating their own desktop OS. Because everything is slowly becoming more mobile, I think Google will continue to push Android and the third option: Chrome OS.

I’ll be among the first to say that there are some serious limitations to Chrome, but I’ve also found that the majority of the time I don’t have anything open on my MacBook, netbook, or desktop save Chrome. When I need to sit down and write a paper for class I still open up Microsoft Word, but if Google Docs offered more functionality then I would have no reason to use Word. I know for a lot of people they need larger apps like QuickBooks, Photoshop, and Final Cut Pro to really be productive, but I don’t see any reason why Chrome couldn’t fit the needs to most users. As our computing experiences continue to move to the web and storage issues continue to be solved by the cloud with various services I think many people will be able to move to a Chrome only experience.

I know I would feel more inclined to try a lapdock form factor if it booted into Chrome and my phone’s notifications were tied into the system. It is not a one size fits all solution, but that kind of thing won’t exist until Windows Phone 7 devices are powerful enough to boot Windows on a connected device. Even then, by the time cell phones are powerful enough to handle running a full separate OS like Windows I imagine more and more companies will be making versions of their applications that are web-only. I think there will come a time where Internet speeds will stop barring innovation and where people will be able to have full desktop applications like QuickBooks or Photoshop run in their browser.

Many of these things are still far off, but a good first step to resolving these problems with notifications and making lapdock and deskdock form factors useful would be to use Chrome OS. I think there will always be a place for a mouse and keyboard form factor because touch doesn’t always make sense. As computing continues to become more mobile and as technology improves, we may eventually be able to have one device that connects to different form factors.

What do you think? Would you be more inclined to buy a lapdock or desktop dock if it ran Chrome OS? Do you think things will continue to move to the web, or will there always be a place for operating systems like Windows, OS X, and Linux?

Making the Lapdock Useful [Opinion] is a post from: Droid Life

When the Atrix 4G was introduced at CES in January, one of the major selling points was its built-in webtop docking capabilities.  The idea that your phone could essentially turn into and power a laptop, was pretty intriguing.  The pricing on the other hand, not so much.  With the release of the DROID Bionic, Motorola has introduced similar webtop accessories but, also has plans to throw in a new “Webtop Adapter” that is targeted at customers who want to experience webtop on the cheap.

We are just wondering if anyone is interested in this type of accessory at all?  Current signs point to the full LapDock as being priced at $299 with the HD Station and Adapter falling in somewhere below that.  You definitely have options – are you looking to jump on any?

Tuesday Poll: Interested in DROID Bionic Webtop Accessories? is a post from: Droid Life

Over the weekend, we posted up a ton of info about the line of webtop accessories for the DROID Bionic that are expected to be available at launch including the brand new Webtop Adapter.  Those same accessories are now starting to arrive in stores which is a good sign that we are on schedule for that September 8 release.  We are a little concerned still about pricing though, and were hoping to see some sticker prices on these.  The LapDock for the Atrix was horribly priced and to our knowledge, did not sell well.  Could Moto possibly go down that same sky-high pricing road again?

Oh, and we heard a couple of rumors that a pre-order could potentially start on Thursday (9/1), but are looking for confirmation on that.  Gettin’ closer.  

Via:  The Droid Guy

DROID Bionic Weptop Accessories Start to Arrive at Verizon Stores is a post from: Droid Life

It’s pretty well known that the lapdock accessory for the Motorola Atix wasn’t a success due to an insanely high price tag and mostly buggy software.  In fact, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha in a Q2 earnings call, commented on adjustments to be made going forward with webtop docking accessories now that they better understand their customers.  The big question remained though, what would their approach be for the DROID Bionic?

We still are not 100% sure what the pricing scheme will be, but we are seeing a new webtop accessory called the Webtop Adapter that will be introduced as a less expensive (“affordable”) option for those that are “curious” about the service.  To use it, it’s as simple as plugging the adapter into the Bionic’s HDMI and micro USB port, and then running an HDMI cable from it to a TV or monitor.  If you want to charge the device while webtoppin’, there is also a slot for a charger.   Not bad, right?

More details after the jump.  

Anyone interested in webtop?  The adapter seems like a great option for quick conference room hookups, traveling, etc.  The HD Station would be perfect for those that sit at a desk all day and want some extra access to their device.  The Lapdock…well…we all own laptops, so I’m not sure who would need this, heh.

Cheers ___ and  ___!

DROID Bionic Accessory Lineup Will Include Webtop Adapter for Quick, Inexpensive, On the Go Presenting and Sharing is a post from: Droid Life