Qualcomm, Microsoft Announce Snapdragon 835 PCs with Gigabit LTE

I'm not buying the optimism, especially not in the US. The cellular data is still horribly limited. In Canada it is even worse. The "unlimited" plan is surging back, but it has automatic throttling at varying points.

Oh and since we're talking Microsoft and Windows, you can't control data usage. Windows 10 uploads your personal information at unknown intervals and downloads ads and sponsored apps without consent.

What good is faster cell data with horrible data limits and an OS with a poor concept of when data is permissible even in the "Enterprise" edition?

ARM SoCs lack the backward compatible x86 BIOS-style bootstrap. This is great because it's kinda crazy to think about booting into stuff like MBR, real mode, etc in 2017. But this is bad because without good standards it's really tricky to have a generic installer for another OS. Also, all or nearly all ARM SoCs have signed bootloaders. Great: less fear of a rootkit/virus hiding in my system. Awful: often used to protect subsidies or other business model hijinks; can't install an alternate OS.

Qualcomm is decidedly against open source and open firmware, this will bring the closed disposable worthless logic board with the unmodifiable OS from your phone and into your laptop.

Microsoft likes it of course because it means more control for them.

TL;DR: Intel is not being abandoned because it's too closed, it's being abandoned because it's too open!

    Asus, HP, and Lenovo are all planning to introduce Snapdragon Mobile PC systems
    at some unspecified time in the future, for some unspecified price.

* They have laptop-class performance, not tablet class performance * They can have more than 4GB of RAM * You can put reasonable sized standard SATA SSDs in them, or user-replaceable M.2 drives. * You can easily wipe Windows off them and put Linux on it.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Prototype-of-Snapdragon-835-po...

Is this emulation done with a combination of hardware & software?

Wow, now I can bust my monthly data allotment in just a second! (or ~6s if you get the "big" data plan)

If Qualcomm and Microsoft really want a game changer, they should sink some of their vast resources into making mesh networking take off.

a. - Intel and AMD losing their pseudo-monoply on PC/laptop chips, perhaps enabling bringing some prices down.

b. - Mainstream PCs abandoning the old x86 (+IA64, AMD64) instruction set for a more modern instruction set which (i guess) enables more modern, more power-efficient architectures.

but much more exciting than the above is that...

c. - The jump to a more power-efficient CPU will enable me to have a nice desktop PC with, say, 128 cores, and with no extravagant cooling system or ridiculously high power consumption (I need to pay the power bills, anything that will be on for at least 8 hours a day will be watched for power consumption.). I know that there are already ways to take advantage of GPUs, but they are for specific operations. A desktop PC with a huge lot of cores will bring more generalized performance improvement.

And TRUE hardcore multitasking...

d. - This will push all vendors and Open Source projects to improve on their compiler support for that architecture.

I already begrudgingly use a phone where I know the carrier can execute arbitrary code accessing system memory, I really don't want that on my laptop too.

Cellular connectivity can be useful as cloud storage can be, but I'd never ever use anything that depends on either for connectivity or storage. Moving every resource behind a tap the user cannot control is not the way to go, although I'm sure IT companies will keep pushing in that direction for obvious reasons.

The same chip with lower performance (due to power considerations) in high end phones costing upwards of $600-900, makes it an interesting gambit.

Microsoft pursuing x86 emulation on ARM, while certainly of interest to low-cost traditional form-factors such as laptops and tablets, is also interesting because it reinvigorates the idea of a Surface Phone. Of course, the reality remains to be seen.

For those unfamiliar, the concept that many of us imagine for a Surface Phone includes an evolution of today's Windows 10 Mobile Continuum feature that, as with Ubuntu Phones and some fringe Android devices, allows a phone to act as a full computer when docked to a keyboard, mouse, and display. While Continuum exists today on devices such as the Lumia 950 and HP Elite x3, it is limited to Windows' "Universal" applications, and does not work with x86 or even older Windows Phone applications. Still, the appeal of a single-device lifestyle is considerable and many people would love to simplify the technology in their life to a phone that is also their desktop/mobile computer. Many of the youngest generation already do this by simply conceding (willingly or unknowingly) they will never enjoy the advantages of computing with large monitors, keyboards, and mice.

In order for a single device to successfully fulfill these multiple roles, it needs to be able to run real applications and not just in a "enlarged phone OS" fashion seen on devices such as the iPad Pro.

If a Surface Phone were to materialize, I would expect Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 to become more converged than they are today. When using Continuum on a Lumia 950, Windows 10 Mobile is doing a respectable job of impersonating a Windows 10 desktop; but it's a veneer. For a Surface Phone to be a viable computer, I think it would start with Windows 10 (full version for ARM) and adapt downward to the phone form-factor, rather than today's opposite of a phone-tailored operating system adapting upward. Yes, W10 and W10M are very similar today, but a SP device would, I feel, push them closer together.

Of course, there is no genuine credible news on such as device, and Microsoft has dodged questions, even downplaying the likelihood of such a device. There seems to be a widespread opinion that one should not even try to build momentum in today's phone market, which I feel is shockingly myopic and pessimistic. Of course it's not a simple matter to establish a foothold in mobile, but previous efforts, while half-hearted at times were nevertheless making (slow) progress until Microsoft pulled the rug out from beneath Windows Phone 8. The biggest challenge to a Surface Phone would be bigger than technology: it would be a test of Microsoft's commitment to the idea.

nobody cares about integrity anymore?

/s