Microsoft Is Working On a Foldable Device With a Focus On Pen and Digital Ink (windowscentral.com)

Microsoft is reportedly working on a foldable device with an emphasis on pen and digital-ink functionality that runs Windows 10, and it could be here as soon as next year. The company is looking to create a new category-defining mobile device that's aimed at an entirely new demographic, and that puts pen and digital inking at the forefront of the experience. Windows Central reports: At Windows Central, we've been covering two ongoing internal projects within Microsoft: CShell and Windows Core OS. Both of these projects play an important part in Microsoft's next rumored mobile device, which appears to be commonly referred to as "Andromeda" on the web. According to our sources, the Andromeda device is prototype hardware; a foldable tablet that runs Windows 10 built with Windows Core OS, along with CShell to take advantage of its foldable display. I imagine CShell plays an important roll in the foldable aspect of this device. Considering it's foldable, being a tablet doesn't mean much, and I'm told it's designed to be pocketable when folded, kind of like a phone. I make the comparison to a phone because I'm also hearing that it also has telephony capabilities, meaning you could replace your actual smartphone with it and still be able to take calls and texts. My sources make it clear, however, that this is not supposed to be a smartphone replacement but rather a device similar to the canceled "Microsoft Courier." In short, Andromeda is a digital pocket notebook.

Comments

Will it do what I tell it to do?

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't stand modern day software.

If I tell the computer to do something- like, say, stop pestering me about using Edge, or showing displays on my home screen, or installing updates without my permission- it better well fucking do that. If the computer is in any position to deny my wishes, then I do not own that device- someone else does, and therefore I refuse to buy and run such hardware and software.

Frankly, I'm at a point in my life where I barely use ~40% of the capability of the software I've got right now. The particular industry I'm in isn't changing that much and the standards we have now will be valid for the next 10-20 years. I'd rather have a good backup + imaging system and some heavy duty firewalls and run "antiquated" (by Microsoft's definition) software for the next several decades than deal with any of this newfangled shit that can run off and do whatever the hell it wants on MY fucking equipment.

TLDR; fuck walled gardens and "mobile ecosystems". That shit is a fucking disgrace to your personal freedoms as a paying customer. Modern day hardware is practically built with an obsolescence timer built into the software (they're called "yearly updates" now) and hardware (shoddy construction, glued/fused together chassis, glued in batteries, etc). Fuck that noise. And fuck all the companies ran exclusively by their shareholders to perpetuate that shit at the cost of the general public. We should be trying to build better devices that are more flexible and last longer, not the other way around. This project sounds no different.

Re:Will it do what I tell it to do?

[Misagon]

Being in control of my computer is the main reason why I am mainly a Linux user.

You could build a long-lasting PC from components but you would first have to do a bit of looking for info, and then read up about them ... but there is a whole lot of cruft out there. The PC builder enthusiast community is now largely made up of gamers that just want high performance and run it hard for a short time before they upgrade.

What I have been waiting for

[pablo_max]

This is the type of device that I have been waiting for.
For my job, I need to take a lot of notes. I often need to sketch out things like simplified pulse trains for my customers so they can understand what they need to change on their radio. This is something which "could" be done on something like a surface, but I find writing on a normal laptop screen to be very uncomfortable and unnatural. It tends to make everything I write or draw look like I was doing some finger painting. Large and crappy.
I have tried that sony e-paper doodad which you can write on. That really did "feel" like I was writing on a paper, but the software and overall usability was supremely bad. Definitely not something which I could live with as a productivity device.
If MS could get the feel and accuracy of the writing to be at least very close to pen and paper, I would buy it.
I often use onenote anyhow, and it would be really great to have a dedicated program to manage all my handwritten notes.
I would prefer that it not try to convert my writing to typed text, but if it were still searchable...that would be fantastic.
Normally, I would assume MS would F it up, as they always do with HW, but in the last couple of years, their notebooks have actually been pretty damn good.
So.. I hope they pull it off.

Re:What I have been waiting for

[TuringTest]

You may want to try again with the reMarkable, a new product in the same category as the Sony e-paper.

It is expensive, and it has very limited software, but that allows them to provide a very focused minimal interface that feels like using paper in a notebook - just editable, with layers and background templates.