Pulling out has left Redmond high and dry
Intel pulling out of the mobile business has left Microsoft's mobile dreams in trouble.
For Microsoft to succeed it needs to be able to have mobile chips which are completely compatible with Windows 10. That way it can have a device which can jump across platforms and sell itself to businesses.
Microsoft has been pitching a feature called "Continuum" as a killer app for the Windows 10 Mobile phone operating system. Basically, if you're using a Lumia 950 or 950XL flagship phone from Microsoft, Continuum lets you plug a phone into a monitor, a mouse, and a keyboard and use it kind of like a desktop PC.
But Intel scuppered all that when it announced it would not release its next-generation Atom chip for mobile devices, which was code-named "Braxton." It was an admission that Qualcomm and ARM had won.
Continuum running on a Qualcomm processor is extremely limited and it needs an app has to specifically support Continuum, and so far it's mostly Microsoft's own products, like the Edge browser and the Office suite, that have taken the plunge.
Intel's chips could easily run legacy Windows software in Continuum mode. It would make that phone a much more viable and interesting PC-replacement option, with a much wider base of software.
Which was why Redmond was planning on placing an Intel Atom chip into the Surface Phone. The low-powered Braxton Atom would be ideal for cutting down on power consumption while still allowing for Windows software to run. It would make the Surface Phone and Windows 10 Mobile a real threat.
But without that killer Continuum feature, it's going to make it much harder for Microsoft to make that any dent in the smartphone market.
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