This £76/$99 laptop is powered by your smartphone

Superbook

Remember HP's Elite X3 Windows smartphone? It came with a Wi-Fi controlled mobile extender that looked like a laptop, one that was powered by Microsoft's Continuum.

Well, there's a Kickstarter project called Superbook that promises to deliver the same thing for most electronic devices out there.

Support for Android, Mac OS and Windows has been confirmed with iOS being ruled out and Windows Mobile and Chrome OS still unknown.

The device has an 11.6-inch display, a 10-hour battery life (you can also charge your phone), multi-touch trackpad and android navigation keys with support for multi-windows and resizing support via Andromium's SDK and three ports.

You will still be able to take calls and use your camera (and other features) while working on the Superbook.

The project had to reach a $50,000 (about £38,500, AU$65,000) goal, but instead is on the verge to hit a whopping $2 million (about £1.5m, AU$2.6m) with nearly 12,000 backers.

Scheduled to launch in January 2017, the Superbook is expected to cost $99 (about £76, AU$128), which pays for the docking station and a charger and a custom OTG USB cable.

It uses DisplayPort technology rather than MHL and requires that you download a free application on your smartphone to do the trick.

Seven stretch goals have already been reached with the last one offering backlit keys and full HD option as an added option.

Desire Athow
Managing Editor, TechRadar Pro

Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled in website builders and web hosting when DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

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