- On this episode of "Ask Dan", I'm gonna talk about
composable shells, foldable displays,
and whether or not we'll see a Surface 4. Stay tuned.
(relaxed electronic music)
When Redstone 3 rolls out with the ultimate mobile device,
will it have a new shell for phones and tablets?
One of the interesting things that Microsoft is doing
is Windows 10 on ARM, it's basically the full
desktop version of Windows but it's going to
run on a phone's processor,
specifically the Snapdragon 835.
That opens up a whole bunch of doors
for all sorts of possibilities.
Basically what's happening here is Windows 10,
Windows 10 Mobile, HoloLens is all merging together
under one core.
But now there's also this issue with the shell,
so what's gonna happen there?
Specifically what I mean is you can't really run a
desktop OS on a smartphone screen.
It's just too small, there's just too much detail there.
So what you have to do is basically
have a reverse continuum.
You have to have basically the desktop shell
turn into the mobile shell.
So Microsoft already has this problem solved in the sense
that they have Windows 10 mobile,
you already know that interface and you already have
Windows 10 for desktop, you have that interface.
How do you get those to switch between those?
Now it works for mobile going to desktop in continuum,
but we have to have it the other way.
And so that's why things can be happening,
there is a thing right now called Project Andromeda,
we haven't reported much on it yet, but basically
this is going to be this idea which shells,
they're going to unify those;
more detail is coming out soon for that.
We'll be digging a little bit deeper
but yeah, I don't think it's
gonna look necessarily different,
in other words Windows 10 mobile I think
will still look the same there,
but eventually Windows 10 for desktop will have
a mobile shell interface and also switch between those.
A lot of room here for interesting things for Microsoft.
I think 2017's gonna be very interesting for those
who are into one Windows.
Do you think Surface will replace all
hardware divisions at Microsoft?
So this question's a little confusing
because Panos Panay and the Surface team
already lead all the hardware at Microsoft.
That change happened last year.
That means basically, not only Surface devices
but anything that comes out of Microsoft
is under that tutelage.
So for instance, the Xbox One S, that design
comes from the same people who do Surface.
It's basically all one group now,
so that means future devices including
mobile and anything that happens in wearables,
and yes, wearables still exist at Microsoft,
including hHealth, although it's being reevaluated
from what I understand but all those devices,
anything that comes out will be under that same group.
So it's basically all Surface in terms of actual hardware
design, but the actual names will be different.
Do you think HP will make another Windows Phone
when full Windows 10 comes to phones as revealed recently?
So rumors have it that HP at Mobile World Congress
may announce another device, a consumer version Elite X3.
I do not have information to confirm or deny that,
there's a distinct possibility though.
Back a few months ago we interviewed Device President
of Mobility at HP, Michael Park
and he did leave the door open for
future Windows phone devices.
Basically what he said was, if there's a market for it
and they see an opportunity, they will take it.
Whether or not they are seeing that right now
with Microsoft in Elite X3 remains to be seen
but the Elite X3 is a solid Windows phone,
say what you will about the Microsoft ecosystem right now
for mobile, it's a really nice device,
a really good hardware and I think that relationship is
very strong between the two companies.
So fingers crossed we will see something.
Will there ever be a non-pro version
of the Surface series or was the Surface 3 the last one?
So quick refresher here,
a few years ago we saw Surface 3 come out.
It was a 10-inch version,
non-pro basically of the Surface series.
There was also an optional LTE option,
which I really enjoyed.
However this device ran an Atom processor,
which was not the strongest
and personally I had a lot of issues with its performance.
In fact, we haven't seen a Surface 4 yet
and that leaves the door open.
If you take Microsoft's recent announcement
of Windows 10 on ARM, I think that is a clear sign
of what's gonna happen next.
I think Surface 4 is still gonna happen,
and I think it'll be one of the first Windows 10
on ARM devices that will come out.
As to when that happens, probably not until the fall.
So we have some time left, but we should also see
an LTE version of that device as well
because after all Qualcomm Snapdragon allows them to do that
so we should still see something coming soon,
but not for a few more months.
What are the three things in tech
that you see the most potential for right now?
So the first answer's definitely gonna be mixed reality,
should be pretty obvious here.
I think things like HoloLens and Windows Holographics
is a pretty big deal.
Now I like virtual reality,
but it's a limited case scenario for usage.
It's basically just gaming whereas mixed reality
and augmented reality, I see a lot more potential.
The limiting factor here of course right now
is a little bit of the OS but that's coming online
and of course the hardware and how much we can do with it.
Of course that will improve over time
so you can wear it out and about just like regular glasses.
But I think that's some very exciting stuff.
The second thing is basically what Microsoft's doing
with OneCore and composable shells.
Basically the idea here is that there's one OS
but it can live on any kind of system.
Whether it's a PC, a tablet, phone
or even internet of things I think is a
really impressive feat that other companies have
not been able to replicate yet.
There's a lot of potential here,
basically Microsoft knows that in theory,
the desktop is kind of dying.
So they basically built an OS that can live
on any kind of device that we create,
and that's really exciting stuff.
I think it opens up a lot of potential for Microsoft too.
Finally the third thing I'm most excited about is
the potential for foldable displays.
Rumors have it that in 2018, we'll actually start to
see these hit the consumer market.
Orders are being placed right now by supposed,
by Microsoft, Google, and Apple.
If you watch on HBO recently
the new Westworld series, you may have seen a
foldable device there that to me,
seemed very much like what a Surface could be in the future.
In fact it folds up and can be turned into a phone.
If there's any company that's kind of doing something
like that right now, it's Microsoft.
So I see a lot of potential there
but we'll just have to wait and see til next year.
So that does it for this episode of "Ask Dan."
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Thanks for watching, take care everybody.
(light electronic music)