Samsung ups their DeX game

Back in May, Samsung released their Dex smartphone dock, potentially bridging the gap between desktop and mobile computing with Android. Engadget described it as an "impressive, unnecessary, phone-powered PC," which suffered from one major flaw:

There's a limited number of apps optimized for DeX and others don't always work properly on the big screen. [...] Ultimately, DeX blurs the line between smartphone and PC better than any other attempt we've seen -- we're just not convinced many people will find it genuinely useful.

Samsung, apparently, agreed with this assessment, and decided to do something about it. They decided that what DeX really needs is Linux.

From The Reg:

Samsung has announced it will soon become possible to run actual proper Linux on its Note8, Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones – and even Linux desktops.

Yeah, yeah, we know Android is built on Linux, but you know what we mean. Samsung said it's working on an app called “Linux on Galaxy” that will let users “run their preferred Linux distribution on their smartphones utilizing the same Linux kernel that powers the Android OS.”

“Whenever they need to use a function that is not available on the smartphone OS, users can simply switch to the app and run any program they need to in a Linux OS environment,” Samsung says. The app also allows multiple OSes to run on a device.

[...]

Samsung thinks developers are the market for Linux on Galaxy, as it means they “can now set up a fully functional development environment with all the advantages of a desktop setting that is accessible anytime, anywhere”. Samsung's announcement suggests developers will “code using their mobile on-the-go and with Samsung DeX, and can seamlessly continue the task on a larger display.”

We keep creeping closer to the day when you really can do all of your personal computing, productivity and mobile, with a single device that fits in your pocket. With Microsoft giving up on Windows 10 mobile, and HP putting a bullet in Continuum, it's looking more and more like that truly-all-in-one PC will be Linux-powered, and not Windows-powered.

Is Microsoft the next IBM?

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when IBM was a blue-chip juggernaut in the world of computer technology, and Microsoft merely the plucky start-up that IBM had hired to write a version of the CP/M operating system for IBM's PCs. That became PC DOS, which became MS-DOS, which became Windows... which had, at its peak, 95% of the PC OS market. Microsoft became the tech sector's juggernaut, while IBM slowly faded into the background, focusing on AI technologies like Watson, supplanted by x86 PC OEMs in the PC hardware space.

So, it would be the height of irony for Microsoft, having failed to leverage their desktop PC OS dominance into a viable mobile market position, were to withdraw into its enterprise business, fading into the background and focusing on AI and quantum computing research. But people are increasingly seeing that as the path that Microsoft are on. Yesterday, it was Kareem Anderson at ONMSFT; today, it's Peter Bright at ars technica:

For fans of the platform, the official confirmation that Windows on phones isn't under active development any longer—security bugs will be fixed, but new features and new hardware aren't on the cards—isn't a big surprise. This is merely a sad acknowledgement of what we already knew.

Last week, Microsoft also announced that it was getting out of the music business, signaling another small retreat from the consumer space. It's tempting to shrug and dismiss each of these instances, pointing to Microsoft's continued enterprise strength as evidence that the company's position remains strong.

And certainly, sticking to the enterprise space is a thing that Microsoft could do. Become the next IBM: a stable, dull, multibillion dollar business. But IBM probably doesn't want to be IBM right now—it has had five straight years of falling revenue amid declining relevance of its legacy businesses—and Microsoft probably shouldn't want to be the next IBM, either.

Today, Microsoft is facing similar pressures—Windows, though still critical, isn't as essential to people's lives as it was a decade ago—and risks a similar fate. Dropping consumer ambitions and retreating to the enterprise is a mistake. Microsoft's failure in smartphones is bad for Windows, and it's bad for Microsoft's position in the enterprise as a whole.

I find it interesting to see this becoming the conversation that people are having now, about Microsoft.

Reminder: Windows is not the planet's most-used OS

Mobile devices now outnumber desktop and laptop PCs, and the most common mobile OS is not Windows. It's Android. And it's not close.

From c|net:

Google's Android operating system was the big winner in a big time for worldwide phone shipments, market researcher Strategy Analytics reported Wednesday.

Android captured 88 percent of all smartphone shipped in the third quarter of 2016, a period that also marks the fastest growth rate in a year. "Android's gain came at the expense of every major rival platform," Strategy Analytics' Linda Sui said in a press release.

"Apple iOS lost ground to Android and dipped to 12 percent [market]share," primarily because of "lackluster" sales in China and Africa, she said.

And don't bother looking for BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows phones in the mix. They "all but disappeared" in the period between July 1 and the end of September.

To put this in perspective, even with the smartphone market reaching maturity, and with Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 being recalled, there were still about 375 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter of 2016, up 6 percent from the same period last year. 88% of that is 330 million, which means that there were nearly as many Android smartphones shipped in the 3rd quarter alone, as there were PCs switched to Windows 10 in all of the last year.

If you were wondering why Windows 10's stagnant growth is a big deal for Microsoft, look no further. If you're wondering why Satya Nadella is talking up AR and VR for their shareholders, or why Microsoft is still spending on ARM-based versions of their OS, or trying to ensure that Windows 10 forms a big part of the Internet of Things, look no further.