Earlier today, we reported that Microsoft has just posted the Ignite 2016 conference full session catalog. There will be more than 400 sessions targeted at IT influencers and implementers, enterprise developers, IT decision makers to learn more about Microsoft’s software and services, and we just spotted that one session is titled “Discover what’s next for Windows 10 Mobile for phones and small tablets.”
According to the session’s description, “Windows 10 Mobile delivers enterprise productivity and, the security and manageability that organizations require.” and that sounds perfectly in line with Microsoft’s updated mobile strategy following the recent streamlining of the company’s phone business. Two weeks ago, Microsoft’s CEO made it clear that going forward Microsoft would focus its phone efforts on business customers:
We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation — with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same.
The other interesting bit from this Ignite 2016 session is the mention of “Windows 10 Mobile for phones and small tablets”: while Microsoft and some third-party OEMs have been shipping several Windows 10 Mobile phones over the last few months, Windows 10 Mobile tablets are still nowhere to be seen. You may remember that back at CES 2016 in January, Alcatel One Touch introduced the Pixi 3, an 8-inch Windows 10 Mobile tablet with a cellular radio though the OEM declined to share a shipping date at the time.
Actually, OEMs are probably waiting for the Windows 10 Mobile Anniversary update to ship in the summer before releasing Windows 10 Mobile tablets to the market. Indeed, we reported two weeks ago that Microsoft had recently changed the Windows 10 Mobile hardware requirements to allow OEMs to ship Windows 10 Mobile devices with screens up to 9 inches (previously up to 7.9 inches).
Lastly, a Continuum for Phone session at Build 2016 highlighted upcoming Continuum features such as casting a Windows 10 Mobile device screen to a Windows 10 PC in a window or full screen, as well as the use of the Remote Desktop and Azure Remote apps through Continuum to run full Win32 apps on a phone. Both use cases definitely seem interesting for business customers.
Do you expect OEMs to release Windows 10 Mobile small tablets in the market later this year, and do you think such devices have a purpose? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
