Apple has Continuity which basically lets users pick up where they left off to make moving between tablet to phone, phone to desktop, desktop to phone, easier. However given that they both run very different operating systems, there are only so many features that can be shared and this is where Microsoft comes in.
During their Build conference, the Redmond company announced Continuum. However unlike Continuity, Continuum will turn your phone into a desktop. For example if you have access to a screen, keyboard, and mouse, all you’d have to do is connect your phone to it and it will then transform itself into a desktop and give users a desktop-like experience.
Essentially what happens is that your phone will act as the main hub that powers everything. Apps will scale itself to fill up the screen and in some instances will also be able to transform its user interface to work better with a mouse and keyboard, and according to Microsoft even your favorite keyboard shortcuts in apps such as Microsoft Word will work just fine.
The dual screen capability also means that you can keep using your phone while plugged into a screen and have two things going on at once on separate devices, even though they are connected to each other. Of course the question is how many developers will actually take advantage of this and upscale and edit their apps to make it Continuum-friendly remains to be seen. However it is an intriguing idea and one that we’re sure professionals on the go will want to take advantage of in the future.
Filed in . Read more about Microsoft and Windows 10.