Thursday, April 30, 2015

Microsoft, Google and the dream of a PC on any screen – lanacion.com (Argentina)



A phone with Windows 10 gives life aa desktop PC version of this system Operating in the Microsoft presentation yesterday. Photo: AP

Yesterday, at the first conference of its annual meeting to developers (BUILD 2015) Microsoft elaborated on Continuum, a feature that debuts in Windows 10 and had mentioned before, and which would transform some future smartphones in conventional computers.

The initial concept of Continuum is to enable a smooth transition between the two modes using Windows (oriented touch screens, and the traditional desktop, keyboard and mouse); Continuum is what determines if the user desired mode of interaction what application or view should be privileged. In Microsoft Windows 10 bet for universal applications (the same program for a desktop PC, a tablet or a phone) and this opens the way for what we announced yesterday some future smartphones running Windows 10 phone can, when connected via HDMI to TV or monitor, and a Bluetooth keyboard or mouse, function as a PC, transforming its interface to take advantage of the larger display.

Sound familiar? Yes, because it is not a new concept, although it has the potential for greater adoption. Palm, among others, was about to present Foleo in 2007, a notebook keyboard and screen simile taking information from smartphone to run. And Motorola advanced enough in this regard with its Atrix webtop mode in 2011: the smartphone gave life to a keyboard and a screen, and changed its graphical interface to a standard Linux Android, allowing applications to run Android as windows in this desktop.

Motorola experimented with Atrix smartphone and desktop mode using the phone as motor. Photo: THE NATION

Ubuntu also promised something similar for the latest versions of your Linux distribution; although he reached the first smartphones, this dual mode is not available.

With a more modest proposal, the PadFone Asus line takes several years offering a screen with a special slot for your smartphone that becomes a tablet and a notebook with a detachable keyboard

The bet here is similar:. carry a smartphone in your pocket to function as such, and to get to work, to connect to a foundation that will enable a keyboard, a monitor and the mode of interaction of Windows 10 PC, such as we saw yesterday in the demo. For the user it is transparent (beyond that will not serve for any task because the mobile chip can not compete with Core i7). Once work is completed, the phone and ready is taken.

Although Microsoft said that not just any smartphone can do (for now, the idea is that both screens, the phone and the monitor can be used at the same time), we’re not talking about needing a huge hardware: today smartphones with 4 GB of RAM, as the Asus Zenfone 2 and processors for powerful mobile (including Intel Atom, which provide compatibility with traditional applications Windows). Not to mention that most of the screens “desktop” we use today has a resolution equal to or less than that of a high-end smartphone.



The Chromestick transforms any screen into a computer with Chrome OS. Photo: File

Part of the promise of this mode of use that enables Windows 10 is to bring the information and applications in the pocket, and transform any screen into a computer available complete; . is there a money saver, more management devices, etc.

At the same time, concepts like Chromebit of Google poses a similar option: a flash drive for $ 99 with the hardware of a smartphone, use Chrome OS, the operating system Google betting on the Internet as a data repository, and initially dispensed applications but now adds up the Android.

And, as the concept of Microsoft, bet to transform any television or a computer monitor, and make more diffuse frontiers between a phone, a tablet, 2-in-1 and a conventional computer. .

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