Why Microsoft's New $99 Display Dock Could Be A Game Changer (Opinion)

[RedJaron]

I'm not sure on this. The phone itself has to support the dock through software.

What modern mobile OS does not have full support for USB hubs and other basic devices baked into its USB driver stack? Not having to re-invent all the basic driver and software stacks required to run a modern OS to manage the generic functionality expected out of modern devices is one of the main reasons so many devices are using Android or other mobile OSes as their foundation. This dock is nothing more than a hub with a Type-C host port, so at least that much of its functionality should be universal. Most companies do not bother going out of their way to rip support for generic USB devices out of their firmware - that requires extra effort over using the stock OS which already includes all of it.

I'm not a USB expert or anything. But does the phone support mass storage over USB? I honestly have no idea what would happen if I plugged a USB flash drive into my phone ( I've never tried ). It will recognize storage over microSD, but I don't know about over USB. I imagine it would, but is there a size limit? Would other phones recognize a 2TB HDD on the other end of the USB cable? Do they support video output over USB? Do they even know how to output their screen over USB, or how to scale it to the resolution of the external display? Most phones have used mini HDMI to do this, so I don't know whether video over USB is a common task in most phones. Mouse support would be another thing I would guess most phones don't have. I realize at least the USB hub portion should work on just about anything, but that only extends the phone's existing USB capabilities to the extra ports.

 

[why_wolf]

Didn't Motorola do something like this years ago. Ubuntu on android showed off desktop mode years ago, doesnt Ubuntu on.mobile still have it. What is the difference in witelessly transmitting your display from your phone to a TV and using a cheap usb3 powered hub. What was MS doing that's revolutionary?

There have been few other attempts at this before. The main hangup was software. Using the phone like this meant the phone stopped working as a phone. And the software ended up just being phone software on a bigger screen, not that great. This time around it will keep working as a phone while in use and the software actually looks usable. This isn't the sort of thing that will catch the world on fire though, but if it works well it could help it gain a following of office employees who like not having to lug around their laptops just give a powerpoint presentation.

 

[RedJaron]

Yes, I remember Microsoft's early "smartphones." I remember being in awe that they crammed Windows onto a handheld device. And I also remember what a terrible user experience it was. I'm not really criticizing Microsoft on that-I mean, the fact they did it at all was really cool. But you really can't argue much about the iPhone establishing the smartphone market.

With the original iPhone, Apple took everything that Microsoft, and everyone else, was *trying* to do, and did it really, really well. It set the paradigm for what a smartphone would be, and how it would acquire and run apps, etc. Look at any smartphone on the market today: They all have that same basic DNA that Apple invented with the iPhone and iOS.

It is true that the Apple Hype Machine has gone haywire since then (and curse you for making me sound like an Apple apologist before I've even had my coffee!), but you can't deny the iPhone's influence. I consider the release of the original iPhone to be the true birth of the smartphone market.

I wasn't trying to make you out as an Apple apologist, Seth. But no, I don't consider that Apple created the smartphone market. I don't think that honor goes to any singular phone because then you have to argue what was the first phone that truly had "smart" features versus who was the first that did it in critical and commercial success, etc. Of course then you have to define what makes something a smartphone. It sounds like you define it by apps on the phone. I think a smartphone is one that focuses first on managing personal information ( contacts, calendar items, communication ) and then makes that information available in a variety of ways. And I'm cool with not everyone agreeing with my definition.

I don't think Apple even established the market. I think the Treo and Blackberry did that by. Before them, I don't know of another phone that gave you such control over things like contact information, calendar and scheduling support, advanced messaging features, and in the Treo's case, a color touchscreen. All that information could be readily backed up and synced to a desktop ( and people have wondered why I've never sent out one of those, "I broke/upgraded my phone and need everyone's number again!" messages in the last ten years ) meaning it was reflected in your personal MS Office or Lotus suite system. Look at iOS' DNA and you'll see it descends from Palm.

Yes, some of the early Windows CE and Windows Mobile devices had problems. MS licensed the software, but didn't require a minimum hardware spec, so the manufacturers often made the cheapest phones they could. This often left you with a very underpowered device. Around WinMo 5, things got a lot better. I had a friend with the Samsung i730 that was a great phone. It never felt sluggish and I really wanted one, but it wasn't on Verizon. Then MS hit a homerun with WinMo 6. I got a Samsung i760 and in some ways it's still the best phone I ever had.

I think it's arguable the iPhone took the smartphone mainstream ( does this make me a smartphone hipster? Damn it all... ). Of course, this all comes down to what your personal definition of "creating a market" and "establishing a market," so po-tay-to, po-tah-to. But, if it's mainly about the apps, then yes, Apple was great in making their App Store. You could of course get other applications on other smartphones before the iPhone, but compatibility wasn't assured, and finding them was often a problem. A central distribution point of apps that were guaranteed to work on your phone was a very "smart" idea.

 

[InvalidError]

I'm not a USB expert or anything. But does the phone support mass storage over USB? I honestly have no idea what would happen if I plugged a USB flash drive into my phone ( I've never tried ). It will recognize storage over microSD, but I don't know about over USB.

The Android Open Source Project includes all the basic hardware support from the regular Linux kernel, which means practically all standard USB device classes which are relevant to mobile devices. If your Android phone/tablet/netbook is missing support for a standard USB device, it probably got edited out by the device manufacturer. One feature frequently removed from Android is support for Microsoft file systems to avoid licensing fees.

 

[waynes]

USBGO (USB3.? Is bidirectional) aslong as android does not block it. Android has desktop ability but it's apps thst have to support. Unbuntu has mobile desktop app modes but never released a Ubuntu on Android as aftermarket after showing off yeats ago, not even a preinstalled version. There should br a campaing to have a full Linux sandboxed on Android with mobile and desktop modes.