Have you ever felt that just one screen on your laptop isn’t enough? I’ve been in several such situations, where I’ve needed to connect an external monitor, to smoothen out my workflow. It, however, becomes a chore when you’re traveling as you cannot carry with you a second screen. Or maybe, you can?
Well, thanks to a running Kickstarter project, it may now be possible to carry and have a secondary screen on you at all times. Called DUO, MIT-backed startup Mobile Pixels has designed a portable second laptop monitor that you can attach to any laptop of a compatible size.
Yes, you can attach this dual monitor (quite similar to Razer’s Project Valerie, but not that impressive) to the back of your laptop and slide it out whenever you feel like using two screens to manage your workflow. You do not need any additional space to make DUO work, it relies on a simple, plug-and-play USB connection.
DUO has been built to maximize productivity, hence, it provides you the option to rotate the screen a full 270-degree. You can also rotate it 180-degrees to kick-off presentation mode, enabling the user on the other side can work alongside you. Talking about how DUO was born from the necessity of being more productive, its creator Jack Yao said,
‘On the average workday, I found that toggling between tabs, windows, and applications was causing me to lose, on average, about 10 seconds every five minutes. So, I developed DUO out of the necessity to increase my productivity. And, with DUO, you can now boost your productivity by up to 50%.’
And if you’re wondering about the wear and tear from daily use of an attachment to your laptop, well, Mobile Pixels says that DUO’s exterior is made from ABS plastic and it weighs just 1.5 pounds (~700 grams), so it has been designed with your mobility needs in mind.
DUO has already attracted a ton of attention as the campaign has raised over $700,000 with the backing of around 3,500 people. Mobile Pixels set up a goal of only $35,000 but seeing the overwhelming response, they expect to crowdfund close to $1.5 million in pre-sales from this campaign. So, if you’ve been looking for a portable secondary screen, DUO may be the perfect option for you.
