Motorola’s Ready For Brings a DeX-Style Desktop to the Edge Plus

Motorola is expanding its Edge Plus flagship phone with a new, desktop-friendly interface called Ready For. Similar to Samsung’s DeX, Ready For allows users to connect their smartphone to a larger screen (using a USB-C to USB-C or USB-C to HDMI cable), which is the Edge Plus (and presumably future Motorola phones) enables to be used as a computer or even as a set-top box alternative.

The company actually provides four different use cases for Ready For. At the most basic level, users can convert the Edge Plus into a mobile computing setup, complete with a Bluetooth mouse or keyboard – similar to DeX.

But Motorola also has more interesting ideas for using the Edge Plus. Another, for example, the Edge Plus makes a video conferencing station with the superior cameras on the smartphone (the 108-megapixel main lens or the 16-megapixel ultra-wide lens) for a better video chatting experience.

There are also entertainment options. Players can connect a controller and use the Edge Plus as an improvised console, or for native mobile games such as Fortnite or with game streaming services like xCloud. Users can also connect their phone as an easily portable set-top box – Motorola intends to plug the Edge Plus into a hotel TV, giving you access to all your already signed streaming apps when you travel without to worry about the Wi-Fi setup of your room.

Ready For (or DeX) is not the first attempt to turn a smartphone into a computer. The cell phone history has been littered with previous attempts, such as the aborted Palm Foleo or Motorola’s own Atrix 4G’s LapDock accessory. And while Motorola’s use cases here are a bit ambitious (and perhaps a bit optimistic about the number of users who regularly keep HDMI to USB-C cables), there are definitely more creative ideas to convert a phone to a larger screen . a half-baked desktop computer experience.

Motorola’s Ready For experience will launch from today with Edge Plus users on Verizon.