The lappy is a concept so far, but an improved version will arrive at IFA

Feb 24, 2014 13:10 GMT  ·  By

At MWC, Alcatel already showed us the first Firefox OS tablet, the One Touch Fire S and a budget slate with 4G and Android KitKat, the OneTouch POP 7S.

But the company also had an interesting laptop on display. It’s something reminiscent of the Motorola Lapdock or the first-gen ASUS PadFone where a smartphone powers a so-called “brainless” laptop.

But instead of having to actually dock the smartphone, in Alcatel’s case the hand-set can be paired with the lappy over the air, with the help of Bluetooth (via Engadget).

Instead of using an NFC platform to achieve this feat, the laptop embeds MediaTek’s Hotknot technology, meaning you get a little capacitive pad (bottom right of the keyboard) which emits a signal that is to be coupled with the one coming from the phone’s touchscreen, to identify the devices.

Basically, even phones without NFC could be used in concert with the Alcatel “smartbook.” The prototype on display in Barcelona has an aluminum body, an 11-inch 1080p IPS display and runs on 5000-6000 mAh battery.

There’s no touchscreen here, in an attempt to keep hardware costs low, so users will have to rely on a multitouch glass trackpad.

As you might have guessed, the laptop is not yet ready for popular consumption and we’ll have to wait for IFA 2014 to see an improved demo.

Alcatel Smartbook Concept (3 Images)

Alcatel Smartbook pairs with smartphones over the air
Alcatel Smartbook pairs with smartphones over the airAlcatel Smartbook pairs with smartphones over the air
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