As Microsoft Build kicked off, VP Joe Beliore introduced a next generation Windows 10 feature called Continuum. The idea of the app turns a Windows phone into a full traditional windows pc. The idea is simple yet very powerful. We take our phones with us everywhere. We are now using them for work productivity like never before. Imagine needing to maintain only one device that has all of your programs & information ready to be docked to a keyboard & monitor via Bluetooth so that your device is still mobile ready. Awesome right? The promise of Windows 8 fulfilled. Apparently the idea behind the push was the lack of Windows phone mobile apps but obviously this is more of a natural OS evolution that even Google is following suit with its Android products.
Microsofts flagship phone runs Widows 10 with a display of 2,560×2,048 and 4GB of RAM. This is enough power to even push a 3d program such as Maya. Here Continuum recognizes the device and displays the proper UI:
Microsoft Windows 10 running Maya on a laptop
Here we see the same program, Maya with an updated UI running on a tablet:
Microsoft Windows 10 running Maya on a tablet
You can see a calendar working universally across across different devices:
Microsoft office calendar
As Build continued Microsoft reintroduced HoloLense, a visor that projects holograms. It looks pretty cool. We will have to wait and see how it plays out if its introduced to the market.
It looks like it will have a lot of potential as an educational device. Microsoft showed an animated 3d holographic biology demo:
Microsoft HoloLense biology demo
I really hope that HoloLense proves to be as awesome and useful as it appears in commercials.
To sum it up, the Microsoft Build conference showed some very exciting offerings from the tech giant. A few of the demos that I did not discuss, such as the new Microsoft browser, Edge, were not as exciting as the concept of Continuum, promising to make the possibility of using only one device for all of your computing needs a reality. The HoloLense demo looked great but we will have to see how this plays out once it hits the market.
References:
http://gizmodo.com/tag/microsoftbuild
http://gizmodo.com/microsoft-just-nonchalantly-showed-us-the-single-device-1701020050
http://gizmodo.com/windows-10-with-holograms-looks-freaking-awesome-1701003075
http://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-build-2015-keynote-live-blog
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2916481/microsofts-continuum-turns-windows-10-phones-into-tiny-full-blown-windows-pcs.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/microsoft-build-2015-first-keynote,29010.html