Synergy -- Engadget Mobile

synergy posts

LG's phone division cooking up netbook integration, 'blooming' keyboards, and a form factor you've never seen

by Chris Ziegler posted Aug 11th 2009 @ 2:05PM

There's no rest for the wicked, the insomniacs, or the phone manufacturers that want to keep climbing the global top-five ladder, and LG seems to have a good grip on that fact as evidenced by some juicy concepts that have turned up in a recent survey. Last time this happened, the concept in the survey went on to become the Versa -- so we fully expect everything you see here to turn up in a retail product eventually (unless respondents vote overwhelmingly against 'em, we suppose).

First up is "Synergy" -- not to be confused with Palm's Synergy concept in webOS, of course -- which appears to be the codename for a netbook that would integrate tightly with your phone (presumably via Bluetooth). Tethering isn't mentioned, but you'd be able to see and respond to text messages, peep caller ID, and instantly browse photos stored on your handset right from the convenience of Synergy's 10-inch display. Feature-wise, the netbook's got an integrated camera, mobile broadband (again, we're not sure if this would come via tethering or an internal card), and XP Home, which we're guessing would likely morph into Windows 7 by the time of its release. The idea's been floated at $149 on a two-year contract, which falls in line with what carriers seem to be charging for on-contract netbooks these days.

Follow the break for more goodies straight out of LG's labs!

[Thanks, Panic]

Gallery: LG's phone division cooking up netbook integration, 'blooming' keyboards, and a form factor you've never seen

Continue reading LG's phone division cooking up netbook integration, 'blooming' keyboards, and a form factor you've never seen

Motorola Capri, a.k.a. the RAZR slider, previewed

by Evan Blass posted Jun 22nd 2006 @ 11:09AM

The guys over at PhoneScoop have sure made the site live up to its name today: not only did they get some serious hands-on time with Motorola's upcoming RAZR slider -- codenamed Capri -- they also got to preview the next version of Moto's much-maligned Synergy UI that will show up in such models as the Canary and the SCPL. At least on paper, the Capri seems to offer a very compelling feature set that will probably attract anyone into the RAZR lifestyle- you're getting a model only slightly thicker and heavier than its clamshell counterpart, but which sports a 2.0 megapixel camera, A2DP-capable Bluetooth, and what sounds like a greatly improved user interface. Especially noteworthy in the overhauled Synergy is an address book that seems to work much more intuitively than past iterations (remember the one on the STARtac?), allowing you to organize entries by name and search for contacts using multiple letters. Although Phone Scoop was only testing a pre-production model, they have identified some potential problems to watch out for on the final version, such as the unusually crappy quality of what should be a decent camera, and most importantly, a spring-assisted slider that's difficult to activate due to the raised antenna bulge so familiar to RAZR owners. Click on if you want to peep a few more snaps, but you're really doing yourself a disservice if you don't head over to PhoneScoop for the full gallery and a very thorough write-up...

Continue reading Motorola Capri, a.k.a. the RAZR slider, previewed