One of the latest fads to catch on is integration. It is not going to wane soon either. It is marvellous how devices that are completely distinct communicate with each other, through wireless and landed networks. Media can be shared throughout home networks when laptops, music systems and phones are integrated together. Of course there are the wackier setups too, when toasters play music and the refrigerator can access the Internet for recipes. 

The most popular integration is by far the one connecting phones to computers. First, phones could be used as modems, or personal computers were used to backup information that was stored on phone memory. However, that particular trend has changed as phones have become much smarter. As technology has progressed, phones are becoming lightweight minicomputers in their own right; an easily portable alternative to laptops and bulkier desktops. 

Netbooks are the latest innovation, and they are placed somewhere in between laptops and cell phones. LG is reportedly designing a netbook that tightly integrates with their cell phones. 

The netbook project is codenamed ‘Synergy’, however it has no connection whatsoever to the Palm’s webOS concept of the same name. There are a number of rumours floating around about the netbook as well, and speculation about it is rife. 

The netbook is possibly going to have a 10” screen with an inbuilt camera and various connectivity options, like Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The idea is to be able to control most aspects of the phone from the netbook itself. For example, a user can theoretically answer a ringing LG phone via their netbook, provided the netbook and the phone are sufficiently close together. It has not be specified as to whether only certain models by LG will be able to accomplish this, or whether all the phones will be able to do it. 

In addition to being able to control phone functions, the netbook can browse through phone contents and manipulate them from that remote location. There is some suspicion that the cell phone’s data plan can be used to surf the web using the netbook, but it is remains to be confirmed as of now. 

While integration is a great idea, in all of this, it is unclear as to why exactly LG would want to create a netbook whose main feature is tight integration with cell phones. Netbooks by themselves are great products, so touting cell phone integration as a major feature is slightly strange. However, it is quite possible that LG would want to keep any groundbreaking theories to themselves at this juncture, so no assumptions will be made. 

The chances are that the netbook will be retailed for about $149 for a two-year contract. The device might just be a sleek and shiny gadget that manages to be luxe and affordable at the same time. There is certainly hope that there will be significant improvements in the overall concept, and that the tight coupling with LG phones is not the single most important USP. 

There was an LG survey that prompted this innovation and others, which will be covered in more detail in subsequent articles.