Hopes for MS device event
Well, apparently Microsoft is having a Windows 10 devices event on October 6th. It is still a bit far off, and I'm having a hard time remaining interested in this. But there are some things that could happen to change that.
Firstly, my lack of interest has little to do with Apple's event. If anything, the reason I wasn't interested in Apple's event (and was proven right on) is a similar reason to why I'm not so hyped for this event either. Innovation has kind of stagnated. Haven't seen anything truly new in a long time. Apple didn't break the mold and I don't suspect MS will either. I'm interested to see the specs and pricing on the Surface Pro 4, which will undoubtedly be unveiled... but any configuration I might be interested will likely fall into the "expensive enough to not but until my current laptop breaks" category.
So, what would it take to pique my interest. Lets start with NO SURFACE MINI. I would actually be surprised not to see one. And that would actually interest me. I'm sick of companies "innovations" being limited to half-assedly attempting to enter a market where they don't below. I'm looking at you iPad Pro. That being said, I fully expect people to be right and one actually gets released. I also felt the non-Pro Surface was a dumb move.
Both the non-Pro Surface and a hypothetical Mini version suffer the same problems. What made the Surface Pro line appealing was having quality parts in a well built device aimed at power users. All the regular Surface and a Mini would have is the well built device part. It looks professional, but it isn't. And like the iPad Mini, it likely just cannibalizes Pro sales. It is also shipped with weaker configurations and a poorer kickstand design which could taint the name and brand. I have a hard time believing a Mini version wouldn't exacerbate this.
So, aside from NOT seeing a Surface Mini, I would love to see the Surface Pro get a Windows Hello ready camera. Also, either another new accessory as good as their keyboard covers and instead of a Mini version, tackling/creating a new form factor. A Surface all-in-one perhaps.
Now to the phones. I'd be fine seeing Cityman and Talkman as leaked. Many are complaining about the specs and design. I think they look fine. Are there phones with better specs? Sure, but not by much, and those specs are more than good enough even for their competitors platforms. I don't need the phone cost inflated more due to a numbers induced pissing contest. And the designs look very Lumia-esque. How you can complain about that in a Lumia phone is beyond me.
That being said, if Cityman and Talkman were scrapped and replaced with something more Surface Pro like, especially in terms of design, you can bet I'd be excited about that. Especially if we saw an x64 based phone. I don't see this happening. But I can dream.
We also know about some of the accessories, like Munchkin, the code name for the continuum adapter. But really, not interested. Continuum for phones is a flawed concept. In fact, it is really like the iPad Pro. Right now, Windows 10 mobile is the new Windows RT. It won't fly on tablets and being able to go full screen on the apps available on the phone is not likely to be something the average person would use with any regularity. Chances are that if I have hardware lying around to cast my screen onto, I also have another device better suited to the task.
If x86 or x64 based Windows Phones were out there though, it could mean continuum could take you from running a phone to running a true PC via an adapter. And THAT would be interesting. In that case I might actually have hardware dedicated to continuum, at least in my house. Without that though, it isn't compelling enough.
Another device I would be interested in seeing is a dock that turned a phone into a laptop. I know there was an Android phone that tried this in the past. But again, Android, like iOS or Windows 10 for phone and small tablet isn't meant for laptops. So, tie this in with my dream for a phone running full Windows 10 and you finally get a sensible device to use this way.
I'm OK with being stuck with the Phone UI when not docked. I'm ok with the dock somehow supplementing the power of the phone (perhaps with its own processor and storage). The idea isn't necessarily that the phone in this equation needs to be 100% of the muscle when docked. But, such a laptop dock should leverage aspects of the phone hardware to be able to keep the dock price down so that a user could get a phone that they could use as a full windows laptop for less than buying equivalently powered devices separately.
Firstly, my lack of interest has little to do with Apple's event. If anything, the reason I wasn't interested in Apple's event (and was proven right on) is a similar reason to why I'm not so hyped for this event either. Innovation has kind of stagnated. Haven't seen anything truly new in a long time. Apple didn't break the mold and I don't suspect MS will either. I'm interested to see the specs and pricing on the Surface Pro 4, which will undoubtedly be unveiled... but any configuration I might be interested will likely fall into the "expensive enough to not but until my current laptop breaks" category.
So, what would it take to pique my interest. Lets start with NO SURFACE MINI. I would actually be surprised not to see one. And that would actually interest me. I'm sick of companies "innovations" being limited to half-assedly attempting to enter a market where they don't below. I'm looking at you iPad Pro. That being said, I fully expect people to be right and one actually gets released. I also felt the non-Pro Surface was a dumb move.
Both the non-Pro Surface and a hypothetical Mini version suffer the same problems. What made the Surface Pro line appealing was having quality parts in a well built device aimed at power users. All the regular Surface and a Mini would have is the well built device part. It looks professional, but it isn't. And like the iPad Mini, it likely just cannibalizes Pro sales. It is also shipped with weaker configurations and a poorer kickstand design which could taint the name and brand. I have a hard time believing a Mini version wouldn't exacerbate this.
So, aside from NOT seeing a Surface Mini, I would love to see the Surface Pro get a Windows Hello ready camera. Also, either another new accessory as good as their keyboard covers and instead of a Mini version, tackling/creating a new form factor. A Surface all-in-one perhaps.
Now to the phones. I'd be fine seeing Cityman and Talkman as leaked. Many are complaining about the specs and design. I think they look fine. Are there phones with better specs? Sure, but not by much, and those specs are more than good enough even for their competitors platforms. I don't need the phone cost inflated more due to a numbers induced pissing contest. And the designs look very Lumia-esque. How you can complain about that in a Lumia phone is beyond me.
That being said, if Cityman and Talkman were scrapped and replaced with something more Surface Pro like, especially in terms of design, you can bet I'd be excited about that. Especially if we saw an x64 based phone. I don't see this happening. But I can dream.
We also know about some of the accessories, like Munchkin, the code name for the continuum adapter. But really, not interested. Continuum for phones is a flawed concept. In fact, it is really like the iPad Pro. Right now, Windows 10 mobile is the new Windows RT. It won't fly on tablets and being able to go full screen on the apps available on the phone is not likely to be something the average person would use with any regularity. Chances are that if I have hardware lying around to cast my screen onto, I also have another device better suited to the task.
If x86 or x64 based Windows Phones were out there though, it could mean continuum could take you from running a phone to running a true PC via an adapter. And THAT would be interesting. In that case I might actually have hardware dedicated to continuum, at least in my house. Without that though, it isn't compelling enough.
Another device I would be interested in seeing is a dock that turned a phone into a laptop. I know there was an Android phone that tried this in the past. But again, Android, like iOS or Windows 10 for phone and small tablet isn't meant for laptops. So, tie this in with my dream for a phone running full Windows 10 and you finally get a sensible device to use this way.
I'm OK with being stuck with the Phone UI when not docked. I'm ok with the dock somehow supplementing the power of the phone (perhaps with its own processor and storage). The idea isn't necessarily that the phone in this equation needs to be 100% of the muscle when docked. But, such a laptop dock should leverage aspects of the phone hardware to be able to keep the dock price down so that a user could get a phone that they could use as a full windows laptop for less than buying equivalently powered devices separately.
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