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Who needs a smartbook? Asus planning a netbook with pull-out phone
HP, Lenovo, and other companies may be introducing so-called smartbooks, which combine some of the elements of a smartphone and netbook into a single laptop-like device. But according to the Inquirer, Asus is taking a slightly different approach by developing a netbook that has a mobile phone that fits into the laptop.
Not only will you be able to make calls on the phone, but the phone will actually work as a 3G modem for the laptop. In other words, you pay for one data plan and you get to use your mobile phone and your netbook on the same network for the same price — although it’s not entirely clear if you can use both at the same time.
According to the Inquirer, the Asus netbook will use a phone module from Modu, which is already available for purchase separately.
There’s no word on pricing or availability yet. But with the Computex trade show coming up in just two weeks, I suspect we may hear some details soon.
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