The Motorola Atrix broke new ground with its additional docking ports, which can allow you to turn the phone into a laptop-like device and a multimedia hub. The docking ports are currently unique to the Atrix although Motorola have stated that they intend to introduce support on other upcoming high-end devices.

These docks are an example of Motorola push themselves ahead in the increasingly saturated Android market it is an idea that could quite easily catch on with other phone makers. Either way, Motorola is already planning to add support for the devices to other upcoming phones including the next instalment of the popular Milestone/Droid phone series.

The Milestone 3 has not been officially announced just yet but images of the US version (the Droid 3) have made their way onto the internet along with some specifications. The phone is thought to include a larger 4.3″ qHD screen, a redesigned 5-row keyboard and the introduction of dual core processing to this phone series. Images of the phone also suggest that it will be compatible with the webtop peripherals including the laptop and media hub docks.

The laptop dock has the appearance of a normal laptop, albeit a laptop that won’t turn on. The device only comes to life once the Atrix is slotted into the docking port at the back whereupon the Webtop operating system is loaded on to the laptop. This is a fully windowed environment more akin to a desktop OS rather than a standard mobile OS and can allow you to enjoy programs like a fully tabbed version of Firefox. This OS as well as all the processing power behind it come entirely from the Atrix, as the laptop in itself contains no processor or software.

The Atrix also came with a multimedia dock that turned the phone into a media hub to help you browse through photos, videos and music on the phone through a home TV. This will also be supported for the Milestone 3 along with many other future Motorola smartphones.

This would have seemed slightly extravagant and unnecessary if it had been only the Atrix that supported the laptop dock, but the news that other upcoming Motorola phones will also be supported makes the idea a great deal more exciting. While this is just for Motorola phones at present there is a possibility that such devices will become available for phones from various manufacturers in the future, and even the possibility of devices that support phones from many different manufacturers.

The Milestone 3 is expected to go on sale in the UK in Q3 2011 and will come with Android Gingerbread.

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