- On this episode of Ask Dan,
will Samsung ever make a new Windows phone,
does Microsoft Edge ever come to the store,
and what's the future of Windows 10 Mobile?
Is it really in maintenance mode?
I answer all these questions and more.
Stay tuned.
(dramatic music)
"Has the Windows Store a future in PC gaming
"when cross-play between WinStore and Steam
"is not available?"
All right so this is a really good question.
What's the future of gaming in the Windows Store?
That is, will it actually appeal to hardcore gamers?
I think it's a legit question.
Jez Corden, our Xbox editor, and I, often discuss this.
And we're both on the conclusion that Microsoft
should probably break off, at least some of the bigger
AAA titles, into a separate store for gaming.
I think this is kind of a big deal.
It's gonna be really hard, I think, to lure people
out of the Steam ecosystem.
For casual gamers, I think it's a easy sell for Windows,
but not quite for Steam.
So I think Microsoft has to really think
about this carefully.
This isn't a simple solution either.
Creating a second store creates redundancy,
and is a little confusing to your average customer.
And which games go into that store versus say, Candy Crush,
which stays in Windows 10 Store, I don't know.
It's a little weird, but I think Microsoft should
give this some consideration.
"Is Scorpio a console or a PC?
"Do you agree with Zac or Jez?"
All right so this is a really fun question.
So the issue is, is this a console or a PC?
It's really confusing because if you look at the specs
of the Project Scorpio Xbox, it's very much a high-end
PC, but of course it's not running straight Windows 10.
In other words, you're probably not gonna be doing
Excel on your TV any time soon.
Although in theory, it is possible
if Microsoft wanted to make that happen.
And we have heard Scorpio will allow, of course,
Bluetooth connections to it.
You should have USB connection to it,
and we do expect keyboard and mouse support to come as well.
Which all a sudden now blurs the line
between what is a PC and what is a console.
So I think that's just the theme here
that Microsoft is going for in 2018.
Which is all these devices are really just blurring
and coming together, so it's really hard to define.
I think classically it's still a console,
but underneath the hood it definitely has some PC
elements to it, and would be more PC-like.
"When should devoted Windows Phone fans like me
"give up hope?
"If nothing is said at BUILD,
"is that a reasonable last straw?"
Okay so what is the last straw for Windows 10 Mobile?
I would argue actually it probably came months ago.
Unless you got the Alcatel Idol 4S,
which I actually really enjoy,
I think it's a great phone, but let's be clear here
a lot of people aren't gonna get it,
and if you're outside of the US it's even harder to find.
So if Microsoft doesn't say anything at BUILD,
is that the last straw for hardcore fans?
I would say yes.
I think at this point you should already be looking
at other devices, including Android and iOS.
It's a tough thing to do, but I do not see
any major phones coming out in the next six months,
at least for Windows 10 Mobile.
Now, HP may have their sequel to the Elite X3 coming out
in the fall, but we really don't know much about
that device, and there's been a lot of change lately
going on with Windows 10, Windows 10 Mobile,
so its future is definitely unclear.
"Do you think OEMs like Samsung and HTC will come back
"to the idea of Windows on phone,
"be it Windows 10 Mobile or whatever comes next?"
Okay so for this question,
I don't see Samsung, HTC, or any other OEM
making a new phone any time soon for Microsoft.
It's sad, I would love to have a Samsung device myself,
but I just do not see that happening.
Having said that, it's clear Microsoft is trying
to redefine what mobile is going to be.
Now we won't hear more about that,
I don't think, until 2018,
at which point you may see partners jump on board.
Clearly Microsoft is getting along very well
with Samsung these days,
and I expect whatever Microsoft creates as a new category,
Samsung will be there as well with their own device.
For instance, on May 2nd, we're very much expecting
some sort of Microsoft Surface CloudBook to come out.
And I do expect Samsung to have their own version
probably coming out in the fall,
or maybe even over the summer.
So I that's plausible.
I think they still have really good relations
with hardware partners, but I think it also doesn't
make sense for those same companies to make phones for them.
"Why is Microsoft Edge not updated through the store
"and not available on iOS and Android?
"Both seem necessary."
All right, I happen to agree with this a lot.
Microsoft Edge should be in the store.
The reason for that should be obvious.
You're playing catch up here with
Opera, Firefox, and Chrome,
and in order to do that I don't think they can rely
on updates twice a year,
which is basically what we're getting now.
Now don't get me wrong, Microsoft has made a lot
of progress with Edge, I happen to really like it
with the Creators Update, but it would go
much faster if they put it into the store
and treated it just like any other app.
In fact, Edge is a universal Windows Platform application.
Which means in theory, it can do that.
They'd still need to break out some components
and put it into the store, so I think there would be
some work there, but they really should do that
if they really expect to compete with Google Chrome,
who controls about 51% of the browser market right now.
Now, regarding iOS and Android,
that's a little bit more complicated.
You're talking about whole other projects
that need to be done.
I don't think Microsoft will rule that out.
I think they may consider doing those in the future,
but I would say Edge right now, at it's current state,
is still being developed.
I think once it gets really, really good,
and adoption gets greater, they'll see that
and maybe do an update for iOS and Android as well.
"Will Microsoft expand retina login display to other
"types of devices?
"I have Surface Pro 4 and retina is flawless."
Okay now I bring up this question because
there's actually an error in it.
Now your Surface Pro 4 does not have retina login,
it's actually using facial recognition.
Which goes a lot further.
You can basically stand back from it
and it'll scan your face.
Retina requires the phone, which is where we see it,
to be a lot closer to the individual.
They're both very good,
they're both biometric authentication systems.
Now will we see this on more devices?
We actually have a running list at Windows Central
of all the current laptops and PCs that support
Windows Hello, and it's broken down
by fingerprint and facial recognition.
I will say there are a ton of laptops out there,
not all of them of course, but we are increasingly
seeing a lot of manufacturers putting this on their devices.
Now if you have an older PC or laptop,
and still wanna use Windows Hello,
there are third party options available.
In fact we recently reviewed one by Mouse Computer,
which is a weird name,
but they're based out of Japan so forgive them.
But they make some really low cost devices.
Including one for facial recognition,
which is basically a 720p web camera,
the other one's a fingerprint one
that just goes on the side of your computer.
It's been a slow rollout for Windows Hello.
After all, it's been almost two years now,
but we are increasingly seeing more manufacturers
get on board,
and more third-party solutions become available.
So stay tuned for our reviews on those.
"Is Windows 10 Mobile now in maintenance mode?"
All right to add some context to this question,
let's talk about the Windows Insider Program and Fast Ring.
Specifically, Microsoft has made a change here,
there is now what's called the Feature2 branch for mobile.
They broke it off in the main line of Windows 10 PC,
and it's a little weird.
Now Microsoft has said the reason they're doing this
is to work on one core.
It just seems strange to break off mobile.
Some people have said that this is basically the end
of the line for mobile.
They broke it off and it's just going to get periodic
updates, and then it'll eventually fade out,
and that'll be the end of Windows 10 Mobile.
This is what's also called sustained engineering,
or maintenance mode.
While that sounds like a logical explanation
to what is happening, our sources actually do confirm
that Microsoft does plan to bring
Feature2 back into Redstone 3.
This literally may be just some weird
engineering stuff that is going on.
And none of our sources would actually confirm
that Windows 10 Mobile is on the path to being ended.
So that's the good news.
Of course, the bigger question of Windows 10 Mobile
it's up in the air anyway, right?
There is no really consumer play here right now.
Windows 10 Mobile for consumers is basically dead.
But I do believe development will continue.
This also get weirder now, because Softcat Microsoft
is merging all this stuff together.
They have taken a lot out of mobile and
put it into Windows 10 proper,
this is the cellular PC stuff that's coming in the fall.
So that gets a little strange.
We've even heard of Windows 10 Mobile code being in Xbox.
So all of this stuff is coming together.
So what we call Windows 10 Mobile
is really just turning into Windows 10.
I think that's Microsoft's plan.
Now don't expect any kind of phone device
from them any time soon.
Expect in 2018 possibly some sort of new mobile device
that runs Windows 10 on there,
but that's gonna get a little weird,
and we'll have to wait to see what happens.
"I love my Lumia 950 XL but feel the Windows Phone
"platform is dying.
"What should my next device be?"
All right, I'm sure you are not alone here,
and no one can blame you for wanting
to switch at this point.
But like all good things in technology you have plenty
of good choices.
So in the fall we are expecting Apple
to give us the iPhone 8.
It's gonna be it's 10th anniversary,
it should be a big addition.
So that should be pretty exciting.
Apple really never disappoints in hardware,
they're a little bit boring but the quality is always there,
and that's what matters for a lot of consumers.
On the Android front, you still have
some really good stuff too.
You have, of course, Samsung.
They're the one who is the most dominant,
I would say, right now with Android.
And they just announced the Galaxy S8.
And it's getting a lot of positive press.
I've had a few of the Galaxies in the past,
really good hardware,
but I'm actually skipping it this time around.
I'm gonna go for the LG G6.
Now the reason for that is because of that
wide-angle camera, which I think looks really good.
Pay attention to MrMobile,
he's done a very good review of it,
and I think it's gonna be a really solid device.
Now to put this in context,
I am not switching from Windows 10 Mobile.
That is still my main device, I use an Elite x3.
I've always played around with Android and iPhones though,
just to see what those platforms are like.
And that's what I'll probably be using soon.
I'll probably even do a small review on it,
if you guys are interested.
So that does it for this episode.
Remember, if you have a question, use #AskDanWindows
on Twitter, and use your email at AskDan@windowscentral.com.
Maybe I'll pick yours.
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Thanks for watching, take care everybody.
On this episode of Ask Dan, I (chuckles) already.
Edge is a UWP, as you all should know that means (bleep).
See now I'm starting to screw up.