Do you NEED Continuum?

[Nuno Moz]

The point is, if someone in my company already has made the investment in a phone that can do Continuum, it is a trivial thing for me to provide them the capability where we already have a TV hanging on the wall.

I will not argue against that. But I cannot evanlegise an tech that at the moment carries these kinds of costs when alternatives are better, especially when who will be paying for the phones is my company (the company is responsible to provide all the tools needed for the best productivity). I would far more evangelize the packages I mentioned, meaning Surface 3 for portable productivity and prepare the conference room for that, than this.

Maybe in the future who knows. But at the moment is not cost effective for anyone neither is the most productive option, so is loose, loose, loose. You see, now you spent $100 to enable that in the conference room, this motivates the company to buy those phones for the employee ... suddenly no one is looking at the overall picture ... later the IT trackback after spending thousands (it happened before) You need to look at the overall picture. Its a Trojan Horse.

 

[Hisham mubarak]

I don't get the point that some of you said, "it's expenses include the phone"... Lumia 950 xl is pretty cheap for it's spec's. continuum doesn't cost you any.

 

[Nuno Moz]

I don't get the point that some of you said, "it's expenses include the phone"... Lumia 950 xl is pretty cheap for it's spec's. continuum doesn't cost you any.

I don't care for specs of a device but how it performs. How it performs drives usage more then specs. If it does not perform as well or better than an iPhone 6S or a highend Android, its expensive regardless.

On another note I find that the the question in the beginning of the thread is is not well put. If Continuum is about bringing more flexibility to a device by bridging Windows 10 features across multiple devices, augmenting the usability of a device independently and altogether, the question is more so what kind of Continuum do you need and not if you need Continuum.

What most people argue against Continuum is more so how it implemented currently on the Windows 10 specifically in the hardware front. I don't see people arguing much against Continuum as implemented on the Surface as it is at the moment. In fact is the contrary.

Also I see people give hints on the direction they would like Continuum going as soon as possible. That is one not so much within a specific device like we have now, Lumia or Surface, but across multiple device as of peer-to-peer. An example of this is SMS/Call relay between Windows 10 devices in particular between Windows Phones and a Windows PC.

 

[Nuno Moz]

Allow me to say one more thing. It amazes me that MS as been having so much difficulties in figuring out how to leverage the more then a Billion Windows users to expand its Windows Phone market share. The first bet was Office, we all know how that turned out ... irrelevant on this form factor.

The second attempt is the current Continuum for Windows Phones and Universal Apps. As it is at the moment it will be irrelevant IMHO.

Within both these attempts it amazes me that MS has not come up with a different slant. What if I make Windows Phones work really, but really well with current Windows PC and Consoles?

- Projecting all sorts, I mean all, content from phone to Windows Consoles is cumbersome and limited. No better then any other phone in the market.

- Streaming natively content from a Windows Console to a Windows Phone is non existent, yes I mean games.

- Streaming natively content from a Windows PC to a Windows Phone is non existent. One can rely on third party software, but it works with any device, windows or non windows.

- Streaming content from a Windows PC to a Console is limited, not easy to setup and access. One can rely on third party software for certain types of content, but it works with any device, windows or non windows. (I have in mind Plex). But there are other context were streaming is fundamental, say from Edge on a PC to XBOX One and so on and so on.

- A windows phone does not complement the PC in features. There are potential features that could be tooled to cover this functional gap. Some already mentioned.

- Cloud is a very good thing, but high reliance on the Cloud for devices to communicate with each other is not good for the consumer. I call it Cloud stupidity to the point where in XBOX One I cannot do nothing but games, even my pins are not shown if I am not logged in or connected to the Cloud. For instance, recently there was a problem in MS infrastructure, the Core services where down, we could not login. This in prime time TV. For several hours we I could not access Netflix, BBC iPlayer and so on and so on. Meanwhile I could access the same apps on the iPhone projecting them to the TV via Airplay. Can you explain why this approach? How is the Cloud benefiting the user in this case? How am I suppose to trust a company that sees the relevance of the Cloud up to this meaningless point, if not due to some dark marketing strategy to get the consumer hooked for nothing but the company control? If you want to see the real old Microsoft from an ecosystem perspective have a look at XBOX 360 and the remains of it in the XBOX One ecosystem. XBOX One has been out for two years, they have changed nothing regarding this issue, nothing.

The company as far as consumers go is changing with the likes of Nadella, Panay and Phill Spencer, I have high hopes. A new focus is usage.

EDIT: The users that have been mostly hurt with MS expansionist schemes and miss steps are actually the MS fan base. That is why it shrunk massively. A thing that Nadella wants to recoup.

 

[joshua hildebrandt1]

Honestly no... Not at all. They tried all this with the Motorola atrix and the laptop connection...the atrix itself was a awesome phone but I had absolutely no use in making it a laptop.A big no no for me is we have 1 laptop running windows 10...my wife uses it so she wants stuff to be simple and right on the desktop...if the laptop is synced to my phone and things get moved around she will actually get mad...

Really the only reason I do have a windows phone is because I believe windows mobile is extremely stable and fast,lumias have very nice cameras and battery life...thats really it...Honestly I am starting to run into problems with apps not working right or crashing...example is tapatalk and Facebook.. Facebook will not update for 10 or so hours and tapatalk won't even start up sometimes...i may just go back to Android honestly.

 

[DavidinCT]

Personally, I think Continuum is a very niche product. It will not be a major contribution to Windows Phone sales.

If I purchase a Windows 10 phone, it will not be because of continuum. How will continuum benefit me?

I already have a Windows 10 laptop/tablet.. What advantage is Continuum to me? All the apps that are on my phone will be available on my pc/tablet.

In my opinion, Continuum will more be geared towards business users who travel a lot in between offices. It will help reduce the cost of laptops for a business.

But to your average day to day user... How is Continuum going to benefit you?

This is one question that I have been asking myself too. Sure, it has some nice features and if it's a true full blown Windows 10 machine, maybe it could have some use time to time. Programs I would like to travel with are x86 WINDOWS based apps, and they would not even run on these CPUS, so that limits it's usefulness...

Who really knows this point, IF I get a phone that DOES support it, Will it perform like a desktop ? Will my desktop apps show up on it ?

There is a LOT of questions here but, most people wont know the real answer till they have it and use it...

Personally, as I also have a Tablet, a Desktop, laptop and a Phone, I have a feeling that it will be played with a little and then it will turn into a every once in a while thing...

 

[Petru Moldovan]

Was this ever answered? (I didn't see one.) If they want Continuum to work in the business environment, Active Directory domain support would be a HUGE help.

You can find it in Settings -> workplace. It's there since WP8.

 

[Sick Freak]

You can find it in Settings -> workplace. It's there since WP8.

I think that's for a workplace account.

Set up or delete a workplace account on Windows Phone | Windows Phone How-to (United States)

 

[adamjoshuhill]

Another things is that with Continuum you only need one device... Yeah thats great an all until it might eventually get stolen/lost/damaged what then? If anything like that happens, you're screwed. It's literally doing the very opposite of what we were taught in school; Never put all your eggs in one basket! Murphy's law! This is why having multiple devices is better. If my phone dies, I can still me contactable on my laptop email/facebook/skype and if my laptop dies I can still answer my emails on my phone (not much else as the programs I use will not work on a phone)

 

[anon(9630986)]

Another things is that with Continuum you only need one device... Yeah thats great an all until it might eventually get stolen/lost/damaged what then? If anything like that happens, you're screwed. It's literally doing the very opposite of what we were taught in school; Never put all your eggs in one basket! Murphy's law! This is why having multiple devices is better. If my phone dies, I can still me contactable on my laptop email/facebook/skype and if my laptop dies I can still answer my emails on my phone (not much else as the programs I use will not work on a phone)

Looks to me that for many people (in the first and third world), their only computing devices are just their phones. Might as well get a phone with continuum.

 

[anon(9630986)]

The second attempt is the current Continuum for Windows Phones and Universal Apps. As it is at the moment it will be irrelevant IMHO.

Microsoft IS leveraging on the desktop. The desktop is where they have the numbers. Thats why they now have 110 million devices running windows 10 with 4x the number of windows store downloads. Remember, a developer only needs to code once to get his app on the PC, tablet, xbox and windows mobile. What microsoft has now is a huge incentive for developers who can already come up with desktop optimized apps.

Speaking of apps, I'm excited to see the windows central app. When is it coming out?

 

[Citizen X]

I wonder what is the setup where people actually do some work done! I guess you have several thousands dollars of spare keyboards, mice's and monitors for this to be cost effective.

Are your keyboards, mice and monitors gold plated? If you redirected your energy into shopping on the internet I think you could kit out a 10 person office with keyboards, mice, and monitors for way less than $2,000. 2 seconds of searching found a 23.6" 1080p LED monitor for $89 after rebate. No hunching over a 15" laptop monitor. And that is for new. If you are a tech savvy early adopter you probably already have a spare mouse and keyboard lying around. I've never worked at an office that didn't.

What about business where the networks aren't accessible unless your computer is a part of their domain.

Some businesses, won't even allow you to connect to a WIFI if you aren't part of their corporate domain.

The vast majority of businesses especially in the third world don't have networks like that. This meme that if Continuum doesn't solve world hunger it is useless needs to stop. Continuum is not meant to be all things to all people.

They tried all this with the Motorola atrix and the laptop connection...

No they didn't. Atrix was way underpowered compared to the 950XL. It also didn't have any of the key software except a browser. No MS Office means a computer is worthless to me. Also the Atrix was a closed system. Continuum works with an infinite number of off the shelf products. It's amazing to me how biased people are against Continuum. They see all the phantom flaws with Continuum but completely overlook the major very real flaws of things like Atrix. I mean are we really comparing MS Windows with full Office to a underpowered proprietary Ubuntu implementation? So we are just going to ignore Ubuntu is a failure as an operating system regardless of whether it is on a phone, desktop, or laptop?

 

[Easwaran N]

1. If I have a phone with continuum and the docks and cable, I can use my office monitor to browse shopping web sites :winktongue:
2. Here in India, shopping sites like Amazon and Flipkart gives app only deals. But I find browsing on the phone tedious. So I can use continuum to browse products on a large screen (even at home :wink

 

[Byrese]

It's funny...today i actually need it. I had a presentation to make at work and my sp3 Barry supply head been acting up (I just ordered another one). It was dead and though I could use someone else's computer, the stress of not knowing what would happen was very real. Having Continuum would have erased all of that anxiety. Good thing the meeting was cancelled

 

[anon(9630986)]

I just came up with a scenario in my head. In my country, traffic is really terrible. Many office workers try to wait it out in their offices after hours. With continuum, i can unplug the work computer from the monitor, fire up the phone and data connection and do my social media thing, hobbies (like writing for fun, editing photos, online shopping, instant messenger chatting etc.). It willhelp alleviate the long waits for the traffic to subside. Pretty soon, i'll be wondering how i was able to get by without this for so long.

 

[jeffoffline]

I'm curious... do all the pro continuum people realize you can buy a Windows 10 laptop for less than $200? I'm typing this out on my Asus x205ta that i bought last fall for $140. Full windows 10, I can run x86 apps on it and have no need for an external monitor, keyboard, or need to worry about draining the battery in my phone. Plus it's incredibly thin, weighs 2 lbs and would barely take up more room in my bag than a bluetooth keyboard.
I think continuum is a cool feature... but it's really more of a gimmick than something practical.

 

[Slovenix]

I'm curious... do all the pro continuum people realize you can buy a Windows 10 laptop for less than $200? I'm typing this out on my Asus x205ta that i bought last fall for $140. Full windows 10, I can run x86 apps on it and have no need for an external monitor, keyboard, or need to worry about draining the battery in my phone. Plus it's incredibly thin, weighs 2 lbs and would barely take up more room in my bag than a bluetooth keyboard.
I think continuum is a cool feature... but it's really more of a gimmick than something practical.

True, it's just that 950's processor is basically stronger when using Universal Apps and supports up to 4K displays. Plus everything stays on your PC, no synching, file moving needed. It could be a portable Xbox as well in near future

 

[Slovenix]

We sometimes joke that a phone will replace our Xbox

 

[anon(9630986)]

I think continuum is a cool feature... but it's really more of a gimmick than something practical.

hmm, you say that now. But really, this is the future. Why buy all those overpowered devices that you can only really use 1 app at a time with that tiny screen? Honestly, i've never been able to justify the price of mobile flagships these days, lumia 950 series is the only one thats got me scrambling looking for money. Samsung Edge, thats a gimmick. See the difference.

 

[jeffoffline]

I agree the Edge is a gimmick and that's just kinda how Samsung rolls... throw random stuff out there to see if people like it. I also agree that the price of flagship phones is getting to be pretty crazy... i'm thrifty and usually pick up a used phone a year old for a fraction of the new price.... kinda miss the old days when everyone was on contracts and thought top of the line phones were really worth $200 brand new ha.

The point I was trying to make with continuum being a gimmick is that it's essentially saving you the cost of a cpu, ram, and hard drive for the cost of the continuum display box which is basically a wash price wise but going down the continuum route you wind up with a phone and then extra devices that are useless without the phone.

With continuum:
phone designed to support it, continuum display box, monitor, mouse, and keyboard - all of which are completely useless without the phone. It's also likely less powerful than a comparable stand alone laptop and can't run x86 programs.

Without continuum:
you can use any phone you want plus a laptop that is completely independent of it and can be used basically anywhere, files can still be synced, windows 10 universal apps are available on both devices plus the laptop can run x86 programs.

I'm sure people will try to make it work but i don't see it taking off. If anything i'd find it more useful if it did wifi direct file syncing between devices whenever connected to the same network. Maybe even the option to sync apps/settings on a user selectable basis.