Enterprise Mobility: Motorola Atrix 4G Laptop Dock Gives Firefox Big Screen Treatment
Laptop Dock, Unboxed
The Lapdock Dock is pretty much an entire laptop, minus most of the software that would make the device a fully functional laptop, except for the Firefox browser and Adobe Flash Player. In other words, it's of little use without the phone even if it looks shiny and new. It comes with a power cord and two USB ports on the back for plugging in a mouse or flash drive, etc.
Cradle Will Rock
Of course, real laptops don't come with a cradle in the back as the Lapdock does. Flip it up to plug in the Atrix 4G. Note how thin the lapdock is.
Side View
With the Atrix 4G plugged into the Dock's HDMI and mini-USB ports, you can then flip the dock's screen open. The Dock, by the way, connected to the Web via our home WiFi network.
Power Up
The Atrix 4G begins to fire up on the dock. This took a few seconds.
Password Screen
Once online, the Atrix 4G flashed its typical password-protected prompt, always a comforting sign when connecting a phone to another piece of hardware.
Home Screen
Now we're in the full Webtop app, which shows our homescreen, including apps. Note the buttons on the right of the phone screen. From top to bottom, they connect to contacts, phone apps and the dialer. Also note the icons at the bottom of the screen.
Webtop Controls
The icons in the app tray at the bottom are for, from left to right: the Motorola Webtop mobile view, phone dialer, phone contacts, phone e-mail, Motorola's HD entertainment center, phone files, Motorola Webtop demo, Firefox, Facebook and AT&T U-Verse (to let users port their U-Verse content to their phone via the Laptop Dock). Users may add apps or Web pages, sort of like bookmarks by clicking a button in the lower right.
We easily logged into a Facebook account from the Webtop app. Note, every time we clicked one of the icons it opened up a new Firefox browser window.
Search
Then we Google searched info on the Laptop Dock via the Atrix 4G. OK, so its not all that imaginative.
Toggle Between -Mobile View,' Apps
One mini feature we're a fan of is the button in the lower right hand corner that lets users click to toggle between the "mobile view" and scroll through step-back views of all the open apps and Web pages.
Working with the Dialer
Check out the dialer, which is cool because you can click to call right from the dock. Moreover, calls come in without disrupting your other apps. Calls sound as if you are on speaker phone, but they are otherwise clear.
Accessing Gmail
Then we readily tapped into our Gmail account with ease.
Update Alert
Wouldn't you know it, but the Webtop app alerted us to an update in Gmail. Alerts appear in the upper left of the screen, just as they do on the Atrix 4G and other Android handsets.
Gmail Upgrade
The Gmail upgrade worked like a charm. The new Gmail was loaded to the Atrix 4G while docked in the Laptop Dock. This is proof that the station doesn't disrupt normal operations.
File Manager
Here is a catalog of all the phone's files.
Phone Settings
Access phone settings and other info from the Webtop screen. Check battery power and volume, etc.
Entertainment Center
Motorola's Entertainment Center app lets users manage their phones pictures, music and video from the dock.
Working with Keyboard Controls
Motorola even offers a brief tutorial on how to work the keyboard controls for this app.
State
Closing the Lapdock Dock will shut the station down, but the Webtop app on the Atrix 4G keeps your apps in state so you can return to work when you either reopen the dock screen or plug the phone back into the dock. Very handy.
