Smartphones are great for providing small pieces of information, but for extended productivity sessions the small form factor means a desktop or laptop is more useful. One accessory aims to rectify that problem by emulating smartphones on a laptop: the ClamBook.

ClamBook is a full-sized laptop, reminiscent of the MacBook Air. There's a keyboard and multi-touch trackpad, with a dock for a smartphone. For Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices, two-finger scrolling along with pinch and zoom is supported. Software keys are also along the bottom, like a taskbar. The screenshots showed Android 4.0 devices, but not the dock from iOS.

Phones charge when connected, so users can multitask while charging. Whether mobile browsers have the same limitations as the smartphone remains to be seen, but if the emulation doesn't allow platforms such as Google Docs to work on the laptop then that seems to be a missed opportunity. Of course there may be a third-party app, and Android offers integration into Google's services, so it remains to be seen if App Store and Google Play downloads are supported on the laptop. There's little reason to suggest it can't happen, considering the software is fully emulated.

It'll be interesting to see if Windows Phone is supported, because then users will be able to effectively recreate the Windows 8 experience without buying a Windows 8 machine. With Windows Phone 8 expected to be announced during Microsoft's Summit, there may be greater parity between the platforms to legitimize that possibility.

ClamBook's display is widescreen, and from the photos the software on Android devices doesn't seem to be stretched. The 16:9 aspect ratio means there are no black bars, and there's 3D Cinema Sound. Whether that's good quality is unknown, especially for gaming and music.

Talking of gaming, the ClamBook also means multiplayer games that require fast input could find a new platform. Connecting a mouse would allow first person shooters in particular to be played competitively, something virtual joysticks can't do in the eyes of some users. There are third-party controllers available for Android devices, but Apple isn't supporting such an accessory.

Even though software is running on a laptop, the phone still performs the functions: the temperature of the ClamBook is a cool 25-30 degrees Celsius. Laptops can reach up to 50 Celsius.

A killer feature could be phone dialing, though: calls can be made from the desktop. Users could use the device's speakerphone, be working and talking at the same time. Also, services such as Gmail work on mobile devices so functions typically found on a full-sized desktop can be performed on the ClamBook. The result is that the line between the desktop and the smartphone is almost completely blurred.

All of this is done via MHL Technology, and a single cable. Just connect the phone to the laptop.

ClamBook is coming holiday 2012, and users can set to be notified when the product is available and choose what phone is going to be used with ClamBook. It's definitely exciting; if the mobile OS can be used as a full desktop, and be productive, then it raises the question of why users would need to buy a full laptop.