Spider Combines Laptop, Tablet, Phone, Handheld

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It's an Android-based smartphone with three additional peripherals that transforms it into a laptop, a tablet or a PSP-like gaming device.

During the IFA 2011 electronics show in Berlin, Korea’s KT telecommunications provider revealed a new Android smartphone project dubbed as the "Spider Concept." At the heart of this project is the Spider Phone, an Android 2.3.4 "Gingerbread" device with a customized KT UI. Slap on various peripherals, and this simple phone becomes a handheld gaming platform, a tablet and a laptop.

The Spider phone itself consists of a 4.5-inch screen with a 1280 x 800 resolution, a 1710mAh battery, a dual-core Qualcomm processor clocked at 1.5 GHz, 16 GB of internal memory and a Full HD camera (8MP rear-facing, 3MP front-facing). It roughly weighs around 0.311-lbs and measures just 3.74-inches thick.

Now comes the fun part. By simply inserting the Spider Phone into the back of a tablet shell, users automatically have the 10.1-inch Spider PAD. The phone can also be shoved into the Spider Laptop shell which adds a larger screen (size unknown), a full QWERTY keyboard and a USB drive for adding a mouse or an external hard drive.

Finally, for those in the mood for some serious (Android) gaming, the Spider Concept bundle comes with a gamepad kit, creating a Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) clone complete with a D-Pad (left) and four buttons (right) when snapped onto the phone. As with the laptop and tablet adapters, the gamepad adapter comes with its own battery to extend the overall power usage.

KT's Spider Concept is expected to launch domestically in Korea sometime during November or December, but as of this writing, pricing is unknown. A spokesperson said the company isn't sure about an international release at this time, indicating that the company is taking a "wait and see" stance based on the local performance.

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Kevin Parrish

Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then, he’s loved all things PC-related and cool gadgets ranging from the New Nintendo 3DS to Android tablets. He is currently a contributor at Digital Trends, writing about everything from computers to how-to content on Windows and Macs to reviews of the latest laptops from HP, Dell, Lenovo, and more. 

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24 Comments Comment from the forums
  • eklipz330
    hmmm i think... this has been done before... not too sure... but maybe... earlier this year? -_-
    Reply
  • patfactorx
    Google plz do this with all ur Moto phones.
    Reply
  • alidan
    you see that handheld, i had the EXACT SAME IDEA for ipod touch gen 1
    FINALLY someone used it and possibly we see a real viable games on android, and not just throw away games.

    come on, be such a great success that it forces apple to tip their hat and offer similar.

    and in all honesty, this would be perfect for gaming.
    it allows portable gaming with the base device, and the handheld
    allows bigger gaming screen with the tablet
    and allows for more complete controls with the laptop.

    this could make android the be all end all of mobile gaming soon.

    i honestly never thought that they would make nearly exactly what the need to compete with actual gaming platforms.
    Reply
  • tuch92
    "measures just 3.74-inches thick"

    Sounds like a brick.
    Reply
  • speakmymind
    Now if you lose your spider phone, you lose your phone, your laptop, your tablet and your gaming handheld. what a interesting concept.:)
    Reply
  • DSpider
    There were adaptors for the iOS devices, as early as 2008-2009 or so, so it's nothing new. In fact, if you think about it, the earliest "controller-screen" combo was the SEGA Dreamcast controller add-on. So it's nothing new there either.

    They should've added the tablet as part of the laptop, like the Asus Transformer.

    I mean, if you gonna copy, copy big.
    Reply
  • danwat1234
    Very cool. Now if there was a way to run x86 software on it so it could be your main computer..if someone can make fast emulation software, that would be it
    Reply
  • archange
    DSpider... They should've added the tablet as part of the laptop, like the Asus Transformer.I mean, if you gonna copy, copy big.
    Except that would stop the phone being used as a trackpad, which was the whole point of the design. What that would do, however, is make the tablet a bit more expensive and the laptop a bit cheaper.

    Plus, they stated that the laptop would have a bigger screen. And on that subject: 1280x800 on a smartphone sounds sweet. I do remote desktop and ssh from my phone - so I would kill for this right now :D
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    eklipz330hmmm i think... this has been done before... not too sure... but maybe... earlier this year? -_-The ATRIX phone becomes a laptop.

    The Sony phone becomes a gaming pad.

    So far, no phone that becomes a tablet, let alone all 3, that I've seen.

    I want this phone, dang it!
    Reply
  • MeanSquare
    I've been saying there should be something like this for years. Fortunately, unlike , I didn't patent the concept because I actually wanted someone to develop it. :)
    Reply