Microsoft Surface Duo – Dual-screen Android phone
theverge.com
theverge.com
Why don’t they just sell a phone with desktop windows on it? That could actually compete.
(I'm not sure there's ever been a proper decent portable/handheld that ran Real Windows; there's tiny laptops from the Libretto to the GPD Pockect, which is a nice machine. Or there were handhelds that ran Windows CE back in the PDA era. And I've seen very cheap 8" tablets. But a phone-size form factor? Not quite. I suspect the never completely fixed UI scaling is a problem there.)
Not as obvious a decision for some.
2) relative pointer position makes small controls extremely usable. You only want absolute position for the keyboard.
Edit: in fact, I suspect that even on ARM, without heavy-handed optimisation for battery, it wouldn't have good battery life.
1. Paid people 100-200k to port their iOS or Android app to it 2. Invested in tooling that can let windows phone run ios and android apps natively
Both failed and now they are investing in PWAs likely with the hopes of getting a bunch of devs to switch over. With the end goal being them rereleasing windows phone in a few years with rich PWA support.
Basically the lack of apps killed windows mobile and would be no different here
Of course this device is dual touchscreen, so it doesn’t have the tactile keyboard that made the Psion so popular with writers on the road.
Still, it’s interesting to see a big tech company make another attempt at the “pocket laptop” form factor.
Similar size, but has the classic Psion keyboard (it was designed by the same guy, Martin Riddiford) and runs Android or Linux. As a phone, it has an external 2.5" touchscreen.
I've got to say that the software lacks polish -- Planet Computers are a very small firm -- and while the design is an improvement over their earlier Gemini PDA, it's not a great phone. I have higher hopes for next year's model, the Astro Slide, which seems to combine the best of the "pocket laptop" and touchscreen worlds (assuming they get it to work properly):
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/astro-slide-5g-transforme...
... Oh, and it's about half the price of the Surface Duo (which looks vastly more polished but also rather expensive).
I'm not being anti-microsoft, but it looks like someone just brought back the netbook.
It's now a "feature" that primarily caters to power users: if you use calling, you use it a lot - otherwise the user tends to use messaging / texting / other medium (like FaceTime.)
Therefore my design guess is that Microsoft is aiming for the video call / bluetooth headset, and will take the hit in terms of awkwardness for holding up to your ear for some calls.
I should add I’ve nothing against Microsoft and used Windows Phone / Windows 10 Mobile until the end of 2018. But dual screen devices are dead in the water I think.
https://www.eink.com/mobile-wearables.html?type=application&...
Bonus points for those that employ ML to optimise the result.
Quote me in a year.
* They'll sell dozens, and everyone will give up.
* They'll sell dozens, iterate a few times, and I'll have a nice device.
* They'll sell dozens, someone else will iterate, and I'll have a nice device.
I think you're right that it will be the first (Microsoft doesn't have much stick-to-it-ness), but I'm really hoping for the second or third. I really want a device like this.
I'm definitely not buying a V1 Microsoft device to become a beta tester for $1400, though. Microsoft devices don't tend to work well until V2 or V3.
Just curious, what is your use case?
* Seeing two pages of a book
* Looking up something on the internet while videoconferencing
* Looking up something in a textbook in a web browser while reading a book
* Same as above, but with two web pages (e.g. API docs and protocol docs, or comparing two products, or whatever)
The ability to have multiple applications open and visible at the same time is really quite general. It's the reason we made the move from DOS/dumb terminals to Windows/X/MacOS. It's just often helpful to have a few things up at once.
I'd use this all the time.
I don't mind carry something big and ugly around. I'm a nerd, and not too concerned with fashion, so much as with practicality.
Heck, with the right software, I might consider investing in a compact bluetooth keyboard and mouse to go along with it. That would give a nice intermediate between lugging around my (big) laptop and not.
International exchange students from the UAE and HK come to mind.
My phone is on the blink and I'm probably going to buy the Pixel 4a, largely because I want a smaller phone, preferably a stock android and I don't really see much additional value in high end features.
Still, if I could occasionally go from comfortable in one hand to, I crack it open and I have a double screen side for reading a book or looking at docs on the go and that'd be nice.
Whether it can be implemented and whether it's worth an extra $1000 is a discussion point.
TL;DR got small hands. Interested, but probably not for the price point.
This is big, bulky, ugly, but incredibly practical for people who want to get stuff done.
That's if/then statements. You invented if/then statements.
... The guy gave a long marketing speech about how "beautiful" it was, how they did so much user research on what people wanted and spent a fortune developing and using a brand new font for the interface(s).
Then, someone stuck their hand up and said "Is it true that you don't have copy/paste features yet?"
Why can't people learn... things may be important, but no one cares about the technicalities... I don't care if this is algorithm, AI, ML... neural network processing or some other fancy new term...
... just give the user a setting for what screen something should pop up on and everyone will be happy!
Microsoft basically took a backwards step from Windows CE and then did the same years after it was the norm in other systems.
I've seen worse from some AI startups.
"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."