The CROSSCALL X-SPACE is a solution designed to transform your smartphone into a desktop-like environment, allowing you to connect it to an external screen and peripherals like a keyboard and mouse. This guide details its setup, interface elements, and functionalities.
Function Description:
The X-SPACE solution enables users to leverage their smartphone's processing power and data in a more traditional desktop setting. By connecting the smartphone to an external display and input devices, the X-SPACE interface automatically launches, providing a multi-window environment for enhanced productivity. It supports various hardware configurations, including direct connection via a HUB, screens with integrated HUBs, lapdocks, portable screens, and USB-C/HDMI adapters. The core idea is to offer a seamless transition between mobile and desktop usage, allowing applications and their contexts to be transferred between the smartphone and the X-SPACE interface. This means a task started on the phone can be continued on the larger screen with a keyboard and mouse, and vice-versa. The system ensures the persistence of the user's context, so if the smartphone is disconnected and reconnected, all applications and their data will reappear in their previous positions on the screen. Even when connected to the external display, the smartphone's native functionalities (calls, messages, notifications) remain accessible.
Important Technical Specifications:
The X-SPACE interface is composed of four main elements:
- Information Bar: Displays phone status, including date/time, battery status, Bluetooth status, WiFi status, cellular connection status, wired network connection, aeroplane mode activation, and memory card presence. Hovering over elements in the information bar provides additional details.
- Applications Bar: Located at the bottom of the screen, it provides quick access to favourite and launched applications. Favourite applications are permanently displayed on the left for easy launching, and users can add or remove them by right-clicking. Launched applications are indicated by a launch indicator below their icons.
- Desktop: A customizable space where users can position shortcuts to frequently used content, including applications, web shortcuts, and files. The desktop mirrors the smartphone's
/Desktop/ directory, ensuring any changes are immediately reflected.
- Menu: Accessible from the icon at the bottom center of the screen, it provides access to all smartphone content and main actions, such as a list of all applications, interface settings, search function, closing the interface, and locking the interface.
Usage Features:
Setting Up the Solution:
To use X-SPACE, connect your smartphone to an external screen and control peripherals (keyboard, mouse). The X-SPACE interface launches automatically once the screen is connected. Any subsequently connected peripherals are instantly recognized.
Multiple setup options are available:
- HUB: Connect the smartphone to a HUB, which then connects to the screen and peripherals.
- Screen with integrated HUB: Connect the smartphone directly to a screen that has a built-in HUB for peripherals.
- Lapdock: Use a lapdock, which typically includes a screen, keyboard, and trackpad, connecting the smartphone to it.
- Portable screen: Connect the smartphone to a portable screen, and then connect peripherals separately.
- USB-C / HDMI adapter: Use an adapter to connect the smartphone to an HDMI screen, with peripherals connected via Bluetooth or another HUB.
Interface Interaction:
- Launching/Moving/Deleting Elements: Users can launch or open elements, move them using drag-and-drop, reorganize them by name or type, and delete them.
- Touch Screen Operation: The X-SPACE interface is fully functional with a touch screen. All actions performed with a mouse and trackpad can also be done via touch interactions.
- Drag and Drop: To simplify interface usage, actions can be performed by selecting and then dragging items with the mouse. This includes adding applications to the desktop and moving items on the desktop.
- Window Magnetization: To optimize screen space, application windows can be "magnetized" to cover the right or left half of the screen. This can be done by moving a window to the desired side until the mouse cursor reaches the edge of the screen, or by using keyboard shortcuts (Win + → or Win + ←).
Files on the Desktop:
Files of any type can be placed on the home screen for easy access. The desktop displays all files in the smartphone's /Desktop/ directory. Any addition or deletion of files in this directory is immediately reflected in the Desktop interface.
A context menu appears when the right mouse button is clicked, offering different actions depending on the selected item:
- Applications: Launch, access information, uninstall, add/remove from favourites, add/remove from home screen.
- Web shortcuts: Delete, modify.
- Files: Launch, view information, delete, add to favourites, uninstall.
- Desktop: Add web shortcut, change wallpaper, change display size, reorganize by type, reorganize by name.
Keyboard Shortcuts:
The X-SPACE interface supports various keyboard shortcuts for quick access to frequently used functions:
- Ctrl + C: Copy text content
- Ctrl + X: Cut text content
- Ctrl + V: Paste text content
- Ctrl + A: Select an entire block of text
- Alt + Tab: Display different launched applications in succession
- Win + L: Lock X-SPACE session and smartphone
- Win + M: Minimize all windows
- Win + F: Open the Search menu
- Win + →: Reposition selected window to the right half of the screen
- Win + ←: Reposition selected window to the left half of the screen
- Win + ↑: Switch selected application to full screen
- Win + ↓: Bring selected application out of full screen or minimize it
Search Function:
The X-SPACE interface includes a search function to easily find content on your smartphone, including files, applications, and web shortcuts. The search function can be launched by accessing the Menu and then going to the Search tab, or by using the keyboard shortcut Win + F.
Exiting the X-SPACE Interface:
Users can exit the X-SPACE interface by going to the Menu and clicking the Exit icon, or by clicking on the notification on the smartphone screen. Exiting the interface will:
- Display the replication of the smartphone screen on the second screen.
- Allow applications to continue to be used on the smartphone without losing their context.
- Remove the application context from the X-SPACE interface.
Locking & Unlocking the X-SPACE Interface:
Locking/unlocking is common to both screens (Smartphone and X-SPACE). It can be done either from the smartphone or by going to the Menu and clicking the Lock icon. Unlocking is exclusively done from the smartphone.
Application Transfer:
The X-SPACE solution allows the majority of applications and their context to be transferred between the smartphone screen and the X-SPACE interface. For example, a message started on the smartphone can be finalized on X-SPACE with a keyboard, and vice-versa.
Graphic Customization:
Users can personalize their X-SPACE interface by choosing the background used and the display size of elements. These settings can be changed by accessing the Settings tab in the central menu or by right-clicking on the Desktop.
- Wallpaper: Users can choose an image from a library of suggested images or from the phone's gallery.
- Display Size: Users can select different display sizes (Small/Medium/Large) to best suit their screen and preferences. This setting applies to all interface elements (text, icons).
Applications:
Most applications installed on the smartphone can be launched on the X-SPACE interface. However, some applications may be specifically declared by their publishers as not compatible with the second screen. Compatible applications launch in resizable and movable windows, allowing multiple applications to be displayed and launched simultaneously. From each window's header, users can stop the application, switch between normal and full-screen display, minimize the application, or return to the previous page.
Full Screen Mode:
When an application is in full screen mode, the entire screen is dedicated to it, and the information and application bars are hidden. These bars can be made to reappear by touching the bottom or top edges of the screen with the mouse cursor.
Web Shortcuts:
The X-SPACE interface allows users to create web shortcuts on the home screen for quick access to websites or online applications. To create a new shortcut, right-click on the desktop, click "Add a Web shortcut," and specify the name and address of the site. Shortcuts can be modified or deleted by right-clicking on their icon.
Maintenance Features:
Known Limitations & Anomalies:
The manual lists several known anomalies and limitations, attributing them to the applications themselves rather than the X-SPACE interface. CROSSCALL is in contact with publishers to improve application behavior. Temporary workarounds are provided where possible:
- Google PlayStore closing: Sometimes closes when used on X-SPACE, especially when an embedded video is launched.
- Temporary solution: Disable automatic video playback in Settings > Network Preferences.
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 not restored: These applications are not restored when the interface is launched due to current limitations.
- Temporary solution: None. The issue has been reported to the publisher for corrections.
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Microsoft 365 cannot be transferred: These applications cannot be transferred with their context between the smartphone and X-SPACE due to current limitations.
- Temporary solution: None. The issue has been reported to the publisher for corrections. The system will warn you to back up your data if you attempt to transfer these applications.
- Keyboard configured as QWERTY:
- Temporary solution: From your smartphone, open the notifications bar, tap "configure physical keyboard," select the keyboard to configure, press "configure keyboard layout," and choose your language.
The manual also includes contact information for CROSSCALL for further support.
Need help?
To Next Page
General