I don't see Continuum as game changer, what is the practical use of Continuum?

[Axmantim]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

You don't think that the ability to carry a thin client in your pocket is revolutionary? My company has 4000 employees, all of us can be anywhere in the country at any time, the ability to sit down and have our PC ready for us at any time to do simple work would be huge.

 

[Axmantim]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

Does the phone comes with
--Intel core i5/i7 5th gen processor
--512mb flash drive
--8gb ram
-- AMD gpus

No it doesn't so that's the reason why the phone can't replace the desktop/laptop nor you can use it like a desktop.

You have no clue what you're talking about. You just described an entry level gaming PC. The majority of PC's do not need that kind of horsepower to perform their duties.

 

[Ten Four]

My company has 4000 employees, all of us can be anywhere in the country at any time,

Like most things, I suppose it depends. Let's say there might be some security concerns around your business data. Not sure your IT and security people would want people carrying around devices that are easily stolen or lost that could potentially be gateways into the entire network. Sure, there are passwords and security keys and such, but how about armed robbery? Ignoring that problem, it seems like you still need the PC gear (monitor, keyboards, mouse, cables, mess) to plug into, so it's not like you're going to not need the big equipment too. I can see it being useful in a company like mine where we float around the building during the day and need to move laptops all the time to where we are located, but it really isn't that difficult. With Continuum we would need to have more PC gear because instead of carrying the laptops around we'll need computer gear in every room for every person in the meeting! Not practical.

 

[Raj Poladia]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

Does the phone comes with
--Intel core i5/i7 5th gen processor
--512mb flash drive
--8gb ram
-- AMD gpus

No it doesn't so that's the reason why the phone can't replace the desktop/laptop nor you can use it like a desktop.

The main use of continuum will be for corporates who use flagships which has 3-4GB of RAM now-a-days and the processors are quiet powerfull and power efficient and GPUs are also strong, so why can't continuum work on phones? If its the feature of no use for you then its not necessary thay no one will use it or need it....

 

[pericle]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

You don't think that the ability to carry a thin client in your pocket is revolutionary? My company has 4000 employees, all of us can be anywhere in the country at any time, the ability to sit down and have our PC ready for us at any time to do simple work would be huge.

It seems you have not heard of something called a laptop, what exactly is the advantage of continuum when you still need to carry a display and a keyboard with you?

 

[Don Geronimo]

It seems you have not heard of something called a laptop, what exactly is the advantage of continuum when you still need to carry a display and a keyboard with you?

Not even touching any of the other capabilities that Continuum can bring that I brought up earlier: Because the price of a phone + the price of a laptop + accessories > the price of a phone + laptop/ultrabook-style dock.

Not to mention, with wireless displays using Miracast and the Bluetooth HID support in phones, the continuum experience could be entirely tether-free. Thus, if you need a laptop for your workflow but don't need the functionality beyond what Continuum can provide (UWP Apps displayed with its desktop functionality), yes, you'd still be carrying something that looks like a laptop. However, it could be cheaper, it could be lighter, that shell could hold a large battery (if it was a tether solution) since, and your data would be in one device instead of 2.

As for the people who slam its future because it's only for Office: all UWP Apps, using the same code, that can run on both PCs and Mobile, will present the full desktop UX of that app when run in continuum.

 

[Ten Four]

Thinking about this a bit more, I wonder if it actually will have greater consumer appeal than enterprise appeal. Carry your main computing device around with you all day and then go home and plug it into your big monitor and keyboard. For work I think most of us need full keyboards most of the time--it's why tablets are fading. I have yet to even see a tablet being used seriously in my digital company, and our product doesn't work on a tablet. We get maybe one or two questions a month about tablets, but there really isn't interest in business for touch or tablet use. Everyone already has a computer or laptop with keyboard, mouse, screen or screens--they don't want to have to purchase new equipment to be able to plug in phones. There will be some huge hurdles before many enterprises will find it appealing.

 

[fatclue_98]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

It seems you have not heard of something called a laptop, what exactly is the advantage of continuum when you still need to carry a display and a keyboard with you?

I think you missed the point. The idea is that you don't have to carry these items with you. Think of your phone as a big jump drive that you take with you to meetings or presentations and plug in to the equipment at your destination. The idea is to do the "heavy lifting" on a workstation and not a small phone screen. Even with the wide display on the Passport, Excel work is really not fun on a phone. With all the advancements in mobile technology, processors have been geared for battery life and not for performance, so graphic-intensive chores like AutoCAD have taken a serious backseat on phones and tablets. Once again, I think Continuum is not going to be a very practical application for the average consumer but it will be a huge boon to Road Warriors like me.

 

[Omar9399]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

The idea is that you don't have to carry these items with you. Think of your phone as a big jump drive that you take with you to meetings or presentations and plug in to the equipment at your destination.

there is a term called "cloud" which people are using as what you described.

 

[Omar9399]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

You have no clue what you're talking about. You just described an entry level gaming PC. The majority of PC's do not need that kind of horsepower to perform their duties.

exactly my point the phone can't reach the capabilities of the entry level computers, and the thing is average user doesn't mean to use only office apps.

 

[KhawarNadeem]

For all people:

• Futurist thinking, to be sure, but just imagine stateless machines in the cloud (like Azure, EC2, etc.) that take input from a device running Continuum, will process it with the power provided by a datacenter of machines, and return the data to the device. Assuming a good Internet connection, even computationally expensive tasks can be performed on a Phone, and properly developed apps (like proper uses of Asynchronous Programming) would still feel smooth, despite all the number crunching being offloaded to a separate cloud SaaS/PaaS. Kinda like what the Xbox One can do (Forza, for example, with their Drivatars).

This is something similar we do at our university. Write the code, upload it, and at the back end we have big computers like mainframe who perform the simulation and return us the results. If mobile devices become capable of this it would be truly revolutionary!

 

[AndyCalling]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

Continuum is supposed to make things easier on a convertible like my Yoga 2, but personally I like to control things myself as I find my brain is better at making such decisions than Windows is.

 

[fatclue_98]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

there is a term called "cloud" which people are using as what you described.

Cool it on the snide remarks, they're unwelcome on this forum. Second, cloud storage is just that, storage. It's not an app hosting service where you can work on projects that run on workstations.

 

[dashrendar]

Imagine this....

You wake up in the morning, and you check your phone and you find an e-mail from work that you need to address. You have a laptop that consists of nothing but a keyboard, touch pad, screen and power supply. You wirelessly dock the phone that's in your pocket to this device and suddenly the same apps that are on your phone are available in front of you on a larger screen. The app UI is different on the laptop because of the available real estate. As you finish addressing the work task, a pop-up reminds you that you need to take your car to the mechanic.

You shut down your laptop and grab your tablet, which consists of nothing but a touchscreen, a Windows and back buttons, and maybe a couple of ports here and there. You reach the mechanic and as you expected you have to wait a couple of hours for your car to get fixed up. You wirelessly dock your phone to this tablet and fire up Poki and start catching up on your missed articles.

The two hours turn into four. You head home and you're tired. You decide you want to play a game on your TV. You wirelessly dock your phone that's in your pocket to your Windows 10-friendly TV and suddenly your UI changes to accommodate the large Plasma screen. You play your game for an hour or so.

It's getting late, you exit the game and shut off. You hit the sack, but before you do that, you set the alarm to wake up to another beautiful morning of Continuum heaven.

The "wirelessly" part I made up, but I don't see why docking must translate to a physical wired action.

 

[Don Geronimo]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

Aside from the numbers game and the metaphorical ePeen comparisons, I agree that the majority of users don't need the kind of horsepower of an entry-level gaming PC, or an entry-level PC, for that matter.

Of course Continuum won't work when you need that kind of horsepower; that's not what it's for. However, I think it can accomplish the majority of the tasks that people need on a day-to-day basis. For a lot of people now, the power included in a smart phone, especially in the Windows Phone ecosystem where we can get quite a bit of performance on not-as-high-end-hardware, is enough to accomplish the majority of their tasks.

 

[pericle]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

Cool it on the snide remarks, they're unwelcome on this forum. Second, cloud storage is just that, storage. It's not an app hosting service where you can work on projects that run on workstations.

Honestly, I don't get your point. Just like omar9399 pointed out, you can access any file you want on any device, whether it's laptop, desktop, tablet or phone using any cloud sharing service. If you really want to edit your files at the destination I think using a cloud sharing service would be more convenient than hooking up your phone to a workstation.

When I go for a client visit I would never consider going with only my phone and hoping that the client has the correct equipment for me to use my phone and also hoping that nobody else is using it at that time. All this hassle can be avoided by taking a laptop with you.

 

[Jeremiah256]

Re: I don't see "Continuum" as game changer

While most Westerners might not find this feature useful, developing nations might find it much more useful.

 

[pericle]

Imagine this....

You wake up in the morning, and you check your phone and you find an e-mail from work that you need to address. You have a laptop that consists of nothing but a keyboard, touch pad, screen and power supply. You wirelessly dock the phone that's in your pocket to this device and suddenly the same apps that are on your phone are available in front of you on a larger screen. The app UI is different on the laptop because of the available real estate. As you finish addressing the work task, a pop-up reminds you that you need to take your car to the mechanic.

You shut down your laptop and grab your tablet, which consists of nothing but a touchscreen, a Windows and back buttons, and maybe a couple of ports here and there. You reach the mechanic and as you expected you have to wait a couple of hours for your car to get fixed up. You wirelessly dock your phone to this tablet and fire up Poki and start catching up on your missed articles.

The two hours turn into four. You head home and you're tired. You decide you want to play a game on your TV. You wirelessly dock your phone that's in your pocket to your Windows 10-friendly TV and suddenly your UI changes to accommodate the large Plasma screen. You play your game for an hour or so.

It's getting late, you exit the game and shut off. You hit the sack, but before you do that, you set the alarm to wake up to another beautiful morning of Continuum heaven.

The "wirelessly" part I made up, but I don't see why docking must translate to a physical wired action.

All your examples emphasise why I feel that continuum is not useful. You still need another device with you to do anything useful with it. The only advantage is the cost, since the laptop dock and the tablet etc. will only be shells and therefore cheaper. But nowadays you can get a good windows laptop and tablet for very low prices so how much this would be an advantage is something we would have to wait and see.

 

[Don Geronimo]

All your examples emphasise why I feel that continuum is not useful. You still need another device with you to do anything useful with it. The only advantage is the cost, since the laptop dock and the tablet etc. will only be shells and therefore cheaper. But nowadays you can get a good windows laptop and tablet for very low prices so how much this would be an advantage is something we would have to wait and see.

It's not advantage enough that, in the future, unless you need the functionality and power of a full PC (i.e. Serious gaming, Visual Studio, Servers, etc.) you will only need to buy one good device to upgrade instead of buying three separate devices?

Aside from new capabilities of processor, all the things Continuum would use (Miracast, Bluetooth HID, USB) are all standard and not proprietary. Upgrades in the future could keep those same accessories, with the only one thing being upgraded is a phone or small tablet.

 

[ledevelyn]

Are you high?! Plugging your phone into any screen available (ever been in a big office? There are loads). And you get caught short and need to edit something real quick and you can just commandeer anybody's monitor really quick and do your stuff.

Or you can pop round somebody's house and show them a presentation or whatever...

It's just genius, ok? Nobody NEEDED a mobile phone but now we can't live without them. Nobody NEEDS Continuum, but one day it will be weird if somebody's carrying around a tablet or a laptop when they can just interface with screens and projected keyboards in every cafe and office.