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Microsoft Announces First Mobile Carriers To Support Always Connected PCs (zdnet.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The push behind the Always Connected PC vision has been ramping up in recent weeks, with manufacturers like HP, ASUS, and Lenovo all joining the fray with their own LTE PCs based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform. Now, Microsoft and Qualcomm have announced the first batch of mobile operators that will actively support Always Connected PCs around the world. These initial carriers will help to bring "easy and affordable connectivity plans to consumers on advanced LTE wireless networks," Microsoft and Qualcomm said in a press release. Throughout the first half of 2018 and beyond, the companies say, mobile operators in China, Italy, the UK, and the U.S. will officially support Always Connected PCs. Here's a look at the carriers you can expect to roll out support in each region: China -- China Telecom, Italy -- TIM (Telecom Italia), U.K. -- EE, U.S. -- Sprint, Verizon. In addition to supporting connected PCs on their LTE networks, you can expect each operator to stock Always Connected PCs in their retail store, Qualcomm and Microsoft say.
I can easily see this escalate into the same issues I have with cell phones. No matter what, the device is always phoning home.
Just wait for those Win10 updates!
Even when you think your computer is off!
and all that telemetry!
My PC is always connected because Windows take so damn long to boot.
It's easier for Microsoft's command and control servers to "manage" your computer if they never get disconnected. I wonder what Microsoft will do when they receive a subpoena to "manage" a computer system.
This ... Microsoft has more to gain from this always connected than consumers do.
I mean, all of that location data to use to sell ads. If you don't think the end-game of this is for MS to start putting ads and behavior tracking into Windows you're delusional.
MS is pretty much ramping up to monetize your world, and ensure there is infrastructure to do so.
Fuck that, not interested in having a cell bill associated with my PC. I'll connect to the internet where and how I wish -- and it won't include a cell company.
We seem to be hurtling towards all of the worst parts of the dystopian future -- the version in which corporations control everything, know everything you do, and make money off it.
It won't be long before governments do the bidding of the megacorps .. at least, more openly than they do now.
No way, no how is this good. This is just more gouging of the consumer.
If it's Microsoft, sign me up.
Otherwise, DO NOT WANT.
..."Windows is a service." I seen that blerb on some support document on Microsoft's website recently. We speculated they'd try to move the OS into a subscription model. Just more gearing up for that move.
I don't mind my PC being always connected. It pretty much already is. Where I'm going to get really upset is when my PC stops working properly when my internet is down for whatever reason.
However, my concern regarding Windows becoming more walled garden like is not really there. Steam, SteamOS and Steam for Linux is making leaps and bounds to bring what I use my PC for primarily into modern times: Gaming. I just hope by the time Windows becomes truly unbearable to use, Steam for Linux is better and more stable. It's not bad now.
Microsoft's play here feels like folly. They're like the last company selling operating systems. Everyone else just sells hardware and gives the OS away with the machine, either it be Apple's offerings, or your average Android smartphone. I'm not sure what they're planning exactly, but.. competing with free is never an easy game to play.
I'm sure it'll be like a gold-rush for the wireless companies, all that data they get to charge people for. I'm also sure someone is going to just love all that audio and video they'll have access to, when the gods-be-damned thing is on all the time in your home recording everything you do and say.
I told you people, YEARS ago, that this shit was going to happen, but did anyone listen? Hell, no. I get lumped together with the tinfoil-hat paranoids, told "it'll never happen", but yet here we are: you're all getting always-on, always-connected A/V surveillance devices pushed on you; you can't be one of the cool kids unless you fill your home with this shit. Why are people falling for this?
What problems does this solve that a PC and a mobile hotspot do not? Maybe, just maybe, I don't actually need a separate cellular connection for each and every device I own.
Who bought their games and couldn't play them because the authentication servers croaked during release day.
And the more you pay, the faster you get to use your computer. Everyone else is sitting in the "please wait your turn" queue.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
The Always Connected PC is just another toll of the death knell of ownership.
You will pay per-use for autonomous cars owned by corporations, because owning cars will be deemed illegal, lobbied by Corporate Greed.
You will lease all software, because a one-time cost does not satisfy Corporate Greed, who wants you to pay per month forever.
You already lease cell phones. Damn things don't last more than 2-3 years. If they do last longer, then support for them dies prematurely. Either way, you're paying for new hardware as often as Corporate Greed demands.
This is our future. Unfortunately, the mindless masses don't give a shit enough to change the way we're headed. Vote with your wallet is dead.
No thanks. I don't need another separate service plan to pay for. It's just another way for the carriers to milk us.
- service plan for iPhone
- service plan for Apple Watch
- service plan for connected car
- service plan for always connected PC
It's going to be worse than cable tv bill.
Cheer up! At least we still get to die. They haven't figured out a way to put our brains into jars, hook them up into networks, and torment us for all eternity.
At least, I think they haven't....
I had a "always connected" netbook back in 2009, just needed a mobile network (I used T-Mobile before it became EE) and a sim card inserted under the battery compartment.
If they come with the ability to act as a cell phone and still have Wi-Fi then yes, sign me up for a device that fits in my pocket. i.e. replaces my cell phone, something with a full blown OS that is not dummied down.
Another "feature" that no one asked for or wants except the company selling it. We already have "always on" devices in our pockets. Those same devices can also provide internet access to any laptop with wifi....so every laptop made in the last 20 some odd years.
The Always Connected PC is just another toll of the death knell of ownership.
corporations dont care about home owners and will gladly label them 'enthusiasts' in order to focus more on their own product channels. you can still build it yourself.
You will lease all software, because a one-time cost does not satisfy Corporate Greed, who wants you to pay per month forever.
the cathedral and the bazaar also applies here. companies are sick of being told theyre wasting money on charging for software, and now that apple has transitioned from tech to brand, others are doing the same. The question is can MS get away with the same rates apple charges? likely no.
You already lease cell phones.
speak for yourself. lineageOS means i can keep buying used, refurbished, or brand new (old stock) HTC m8 phones, loading my own OS and doing whatever I want one the screen wears out or the battery bloats up. either way, i kinda decide when i want a new one and what its going to be, thanks to open source.
This is our future. Unfortunately, the mindless masses don't give a shit enough to change the way we're headed.
as an open source developer and avid community member, i think youll find the millions of linux and bsd developers around the world both OS and program alike will prove this certainly is not our future. If anyone saw this model coming, it was RMS, and he nipped it in the bud in 1989. Now, will you please join us? :)
Good people go to bed earlier.
The corporations have masters who want us to be tracked on all devices at all times. They don't like that we can completely shut our PCs off and know they aren't cheating on us.
Lenovo's $799 Miix 630, unveiled at the show, is a Snapdragon 835 machine with a 12.3-inch display. Like other Qualcomm-based Windows 10 PCs, it will ship by default with the Windows 10 S operating system, but will be upgradable to Windows 10 Pro for free within 180 days of product activation, Neowin says. (Originally the updated cut-off date for upgrading for free from 10 S to Pro was March 2018.)
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is not a quick chip
Native performance 2048/6565 Geekbench 4 single/multicode
http://weborus.com/snapdragon-...
Performance running x86 code under emulation 1202/4068 single/multicore
https://mspoweruser.com/first-...
Meanwhile you can get a decent machine with an i5 or i7 for $799.
https://www.newegg.com/Product...
My prediction - the official benchmarks will come out and they'll be terrible. These machines won't sell well, at least not at $799.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
The one platform that I see this working well on is LTE based chromebooks.
I gave my old HP 3g model to my oldest kid, and my youngest has my cr-48. My wife claimed my old Pixel since I had to go with a peecee since I want an integrated lte modem.
Always connected and it doesn't cost a dime in +100 countries.
Now if I could get uTorrent to run on it...
Alright, so from a decade ago until now pretty much any computer could easily and inexpensively connect to the exact same mobile data networks that cellphones could ("inexpensive" wasn't referring to the price of mobile data, of course) by using a small dongle if your laptop didn't have a mobile data modem built in already. You could keep it on permanently or use it if and when you saw fit (which would make more sense, because of mobile data rates), and you could use any network without restriction as long as you have an appropriate SIM and a signal.
Do "Always Connected PCs" have any benefit over the status quo at all?
I'm sure they have top men on this.
I've seen companies that want to "cloudify" your entire PC - not just the storage and your photos, but the GPU, CPU, OS, so all you will be doing is streaming a screen of your desktop to a thin client screen/keyboard.
So does that mean they have a sufficient constellation of LEO satellites that one has connectivity anywhere on the globe? If not, then it's false advertising to call them, "always connected."
Our business has two choices for Internet access right now, and they both suck. There are things that we can't do with our business because our Internet service is not reliable enough. I'm *thrilled* to have more options, and if any companies can do a better job, I'd happily pay triple what we pay now for good quality Internet access.
I don't respond to AC's.
Cortana is same from discontinuation new target acquired, cancellation is 3,2...
* MS will not cover roaming fees that can hit up to $15-20M. So that 1GB update may cost YOU $15K++
"Always Connected" makes sense, as if Mirosoft supplies ISP you must not disconnect ever or lose it. Any monies payed up front are forfeit.
I assume for tracking purposes.
netboot on wireless?? much less pub internet
$10 per system outlet / line fee and you must rent our gateway. For only $20/mo you can also buy our video fastpass get Netflix / YouTube and more at full speed Free when you take Comcast TV Digital mega pack or higher.
Tv mega pack starts at $89/mo + taxes and local TV / RSN fees.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is not a quick chip
Which is why it needs to be on all day, it takes that long to get anything done.
just come to my house at 1060 w addison chicago il and do in person
As/400
What's old is new. What's new is old.
Just wait for those Win10 updates!
Which don't download over cellular by default in Windows 10...
I will not purchase or use any device that I can't operate in a secure environment. Always connected is NOT secure.
"...MS to start putting ads and behavior tracking into Windows..." Did you somehow miss Windows 10 completely?