Throughout the last decade, the mobile evolution created a new normal. We're now carrying very powerful, slate-shaped, touchscreen computers in our pockets.
This is obvious to some, but a matter of semantics to others. Smartphones, despite the word "phone" in the name, and their use for voice communication after their primary use for web surfing, listening to music, gaming, text-based communication and more are categorically more PCs than phones.
Usage patterns have transitioned from a phone-focus, and manufacturers purposefully design these devices to fit tablet (and in Samsung's Dex's case, desktop) usage scenarios. Device dimensions average between 5.5- and 6.5-inches, are powered by laptop and tablet processors, have 4 to 8 gigabytes of RAM, up to 512 gigabytes storage and expandable storage capacities into the terabytes. They have high-resolution displays, advanced artificial intelligence (A.I.) and high-speed mobile broadband always-on connectivity.
Someone reading these specs years ago would have been convinced they were describing a mini tablet computer. And they would have been right. Smartphones are mini tablet PCs with telephony being just one capability among many. Apple's A12 processor, that powers its iPhone and iPad, Samsung's Continuum-like Dex and recently revealed Infinity Flex Display that unfolds to a 7.3-inch tablet, (and Microsoft's ecosystem-deprived Continuum-powered Windows phones) indicate we've moved from a phone to a pocket PC paradigm. This is a challenge and opportunity for Microsoft.
Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...
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