CLOUD COMPUTING mouse and keyboard connectivity , access to various Android apps , plus all the usual ports , with the device itself a functioning phone charger . Even more impressively , the DeX Pad , launched at Mobile World Congress in February , sees Samsung ’ s new S9 double up as a touchpad .
There are various alternatives . Huawei Mate 10 , for example , enables ‘ PC Mode ’ merely with a cable from phone to monitor . ASUS PadFone and Razer Project Linda use a slotted smartphone to power , respectively , a tablet and laptop ( something that , if rumours and a 2015 patent are to be believed , Apple ’ s development nerds may well be flirting with ).
And then there ’ s Microsoft ’ s Continuum for Windows 10 , which pre-dates DeX and , like Samsung ’ s offering , allows your phone to run Office on one screen , while still accepting calls and texts on your smartphone . Problem is , to utilise Continuum , your phone will have to be made by Windows , which itself cuts to the core of the phone-PC issue .
There is not , and almost certainly never will be , a shared ecosystem for these pioneering products to coexist . It ’ s something that will either see one tech giant crowned king or , as with the long-awaited ( yet thus far unfounded ) smart home boom , all labour along with limited cut-through . Users , as often is the case nowadays , will see themselves handcuffed into brand loyalty , for little more justification than a yearning for an OS that works across all their high-priced gadgetry .
Mixed reality
Although a 2017 study revealed 60 % of organisations in the US , UK and Canada still used desktops as their primary device , a push to streamline operations could well see businesses bid farewell to row upon row of chunky keyboards and base units , pairing smartphones with cigarettepack-sized projectors instead . Fire up your virtual keyboard and , voila , any flat surface is now your desk . Dave Sobel , Senior Director of MSP Evangelism at SolarWinds MSP , notes that while “ laser projected keyboard and portable smartphone projectors haven ’ t quite made it beyond trade show floors to mainstream use ” thus far , “ the killer app that hasn ’ t been built yet is the desk that allows you to put your phone on the table , and the table becomes your interface and
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