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Microsoft Announces First Mobile Carriers To Support Always Connected PCs (zdnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the next-up dept.

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.

69 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. You think your cellular bill is already expensive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just wait for those Win10 updates!

  2. Re:You think your cellular bill is already expensi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    and all that telemetry!

  3. Always owned PCs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re: Always owned PCs by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2

      Wouldn’t that be the USDA? Why would the FDA care?

    2. Re: Always owned PCs by dstyle5 · · Score: 1

      Because they also want to watch it.

    3. Re: Always owned PCs by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Kinky.

  4. Re:Um no. by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    What part of "always connected" did you not understand?

    Because that's how I understood it.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  5. Re:You think your cellular bill is already expensi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    and all that telemetry!

    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.

  6. Re:Um no. by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A portable telescreen! Neat!

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  7. Microsoft says... by duke_cheetah2003 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..."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.

    1. Re:Microsoft says... by nine-times · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

      Yeah, my first thought was "Microsoft probably wants your machine to be connected all the time so that they can push more ads and collect more telemetry." My second thought was, "Will they introduce some new 'feature' that makes it so these machines won't work when the Internet is unavailable?""

      Given Microsoft's track record, neither would surprise me in the least.

      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've had a general theory that Microsoft is planning to make a basic version of Windows free, and maybe even open source. Maybe not a "plan" exactly, but maybe they're entertaining the idea, and even preparing for the possibility in case they want to do it. They've been the embracing open source model more and more, and meanwhile seem to be pulling features from Windows Pro and making them Enterprise-only. I'd suspect Windows desktop licensing is a shrinking part of their revenue, and they've killed off any money coming in from Windows upgrades. The OS you use is becoming increasingly irrelevant.

      I could see them making Windows Pro essentially free as a way to promote their other platforms. Meanwhile, they can collect subscription fees for Windows Enterprise, and still sell Windows Server.

    2. Re:Microsoft says... by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Yeah just imagine what your wireless bill would look like if it booted over TFTP and had no local storage to speak of. That'll be the next thing.

  8. Re:Um no. by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    Really? Thanks for the heads up Captain Obvious. I didn’t realize that “Always Connected” actually meant always connected.

  9. Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    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?

    1. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm going to turn on your coffee maker, lights, oven and turn off the power to your fridge I hope that was okay. Also That live footage of you from your own security cam throwing up after drinking that spoiled milk got 5 stars!

    2. Re:Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      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

      Allow me to let you in on a little secret: The goal posts for tinfoil-hat paranoid have moved so far it is hard to believe.

      Many years ago talking about echelon got you labelled as a bit of a crank.

      The reality is, we know that wide scale surveillance is real. We have learned that, yes, someone is probably trying to hack you at all times. We've learned that a huge amount of email is phishing and spam, and it gets harder and harder to identify. We see time and time again that with fake caller ID most of our incoming calls are fraudulent scams.

      To survive in the modern connected world, your default level of suspicion has to be at the tinfoil-hat level. The level of distrust you need in your day to day life would have been a clinical disorder not even 10 years ago. We have to teach our parents and grandparents to have a level of distrust many of them can't even grasp. And ad companies with their web tracking analytics do try to monitor everything you do, and can and will hand that information over to governments -- often in secret due to shit like the PATRIOT Act.

      Having been one of the tinfoil-hat crowd for the last 15 years or so ... I can't say I feel vindicated to be proven right. Because we now live in a shit hole of a world like I've been saying we would for a very long time. There is no satisfaction in that.

      So, fuck it, I'm not one of the cool kids. I no longer buy this shit, I actively block everything I can, and I'm no longer willing to participate in most of this on-line shit, and block companies like Facebook at my firewall. I try to tell my friends why they need to take this seriously.

      The problem is those of us who sounded tinfoil-hat crazy a decade ago just have had to move the paranoia to its logical conclusion ... which means we probably sound like raving loons.

      But I can't trust 99% of the incoming calls to my house. I can't trust a significant amount of emails which my ISP allows through. I can't trust my devices not to spy on me. I can't trust webpages not to spy on me.

      At the end of the day, you either sound crazy, but are 100% right ... or you drink the kool-aid and decide you don't care. And I can't do the latter.

      So join the club. Many of us have been saying this for years, and we've all been dismissed with "that is so crazy it will never happen". And here we are -- living in a world in which the level of distrust you must exhibit to not get constantly get scammed would have been a clinical disorder as late as the mid 90's.

      The problem for some of us is that we never crazy, but the world around us sure as fuck is. Great, I was always right, and the world is a seething shit hole where every government and corporate entity wants to spy on you -- I feel so much fucking better now.

    3. Re:Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Or, maybe, you've been so thoroughly indoctrinated that "sharing everything is normal" and that "the government and corporations are on YOUR SIDE and want to protect you and for you to be happy!", or maybe you're just dumb enough to not understand how easily all these things can be leveraged to become surveillance devices even if they aren't already. Enjoy your rose-colored glasses, I guess.

    4. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      That'd be funny if anything I own other than this computer were internet-connected. You're welcome to come try to crash it if you want, I'll even give you the IP address: 127.0.0.1

    5. Re:Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by jonfr · · Score: 2

      The problem is that you tin-foil hat people don't know anything. This mass surveillance network that has been built was not built to spy on you as such. It was built to sell you stuff, a lot of stuff and then some more stuff.

      Sure, NSA get's a cut. But do you know what they found. Home made porn and a whole lot of it. They didn't find any terrorists as they where hoping for. Just people streaming sexual acts over the internet (private and on websites alike). They also found people acting like idiots, but that was filtered out with other background noise.

      If you want a operating system that can work off-line and on-line you need to install one of the BSD. You have the option of FreeBSD, NetBSD or OpenBSD. Offline installation is a option for most parts of the operating system (maybe not GUI parts due to how large they are). I say BSD because Linux distros have become way too dependant on internet connection to be working to do anything today.

    6. Re:Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

      And, you predicted "Star Trek" technology where people can talk to a computer that's listening in?

      Listening in, and understanding very little - yesterday I told my Google Home device "Do NOT give me the weather forecast for tomorrow" and, sure enough, without delay or hesitation, it did give me the weather forecast for tomorrow.

    7. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by zlives · · Score: 1

      you sure its not ::1

    8. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Am I sure what is not what???

    9. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Monster_user · · Score: 1

      He's asking if your computer is up to date. "127.0.0.1" is old school, ancient, obsolete. All the l33t kids use "::1" these days.

    10. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      "1337 kids" don't call themselves "leet" anymore, and last time I checked, IPv4 is still IPv4, and localhost is still localhost. :-)
      ping -a 127.0.0.1

      Pinging localhost [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:

      Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time
      Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
      Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
      Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
      Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

    11. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Monster_user · · Score: 1

      Double-whoosh. Jokes not funny anymore.

      IPv4, is IPv4. But IPv4 isn't sustainable long term, and is on its way out. Eventually IPv4 won't even be included in the local TCP/IP stack on a networked machine. Then IPv6 will be IPv6, and "::1" will be the way to ping a loopback interface.

      TL:DR: "::1" IS "127.0.0.1". It is also less typing, and just as easy to remember.

    12. Re: Why the hell would anyone want or need this? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      *shrug* we're not using IPv6 yet and at the rate the world is fucking with the Internet, there won't be an Internet to need IPv6.

  10. What's the actual market for this? by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 2

    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.

    1. Re:What's the actual market for this? by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      It solves the problem of not enough people being product for advertisers and data aggregators.

    2. Re:What's the actual market for this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The actual market this is Microsoft. They get control of your computer to (a) charge rent on your software ("leasing" your "cloud" service) and (b) the ability to monetise the metric shit-tonne of telemetry data it generates.

      Think about it: OSs and hardware in general have long since reached the "it works well enough" point for 99% of people and 90% of businesses, so that market is dying. You can't really sell updates and bugfixes (well you could but it would look really, really bad) and outside the apple-sphere most people don't really swallow the "new good because shiny, must buy to be cools" line. So how do you maintain your revenue? A: software leasing, telemetry and advertising.

      Welcome to the future.

    3. Re:What's the actual market for this? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Need? Well I'm sure we can hack together all sorts of things when there's a need. But let's look at the wants:

      How about a data connection which doesn't annihilate the battery life of my phone?
      Not carrying around two devices?
      Leaving it to do something data related while I walk away with my phone in hand?

      There's lots of convenience based issues here. Most of us don't "need" most of the things we now take for granted.

    4. Re:What's the actual market for this? by SlaveToTheGrind · · Score: 1

      I actually said "mobile hotspot," not "mobile phone." I understand there's some functional overlap, but I'm talking about MiFi/Jetpack/etc. So two of your points don't apply.

      As to carrying around two devices, if not having to stick an 80g device in your bag/pocket is worth ~$500/yr per laptop (and I typically have two with me), have at it. My question wasn't whether anyone on the face of the planet would be willing to make that tradeoff, but how many.

  11. We laughed at the gamers by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    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.
  12. The Death of Ownership by geekmux · · Score: 3, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:The Death of Ownership by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

      You're optimistic but none of this will happen.

      Cars: even after most cars are electric there will still be the petrol heads who like to drive their own classic car. Car companies are honestly probably making more money off people today then they would by renting cars. It's my opinion that spending too much on cars is the single biggest financial mistake people make, it's crazy how much people waste on cars. There will always be a market for people who want to drive their own cars.

      Software: Open source software is the counterweight. Microsoft Windows has gotten a lot better in the last decade and I strongly credit Apple and Linux for that change. Companies won't innovate unless they have to and because Microsoft slowed down too much they lost the lead.

      Phones: I own my phone and subscribe to a prepaid monthly plan. It's about three years old and I don't think it will last another year. I honestly wish Microsoft was still pushing their phone because I do have faith that they would keep their OS up to date (unlike android) and they wouldn't intentionally slow down the phone to promote people buying phones (I'm not actually convinced that Apple did that for that reason)

      Voting with your wallet always works, it's just to what degree does it work? My advice: save on what you can and invest in these companies so that when they make money, you make money.

    2. Re:The Death of Ownership by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 2

      Cars: even after most cars are electric there will still be the petrol heads who like to drive their own classic car.

      Until such cars are banned. And, this time, no constitutional amendment will come to the rescue.

    3. Re:The Death of Ownership by geekmux · · Score: 1

      You're optimistic but none of this will happen.

      Cars: even after most cars are electric there will still be the petrol heads who like to drive their own classic car. Car companies are honestly probably making more money off people today then they would by renting cars. It's my opinion that spending too much on cars is the single biggest financial mistake people make, it's crazy how much people waste on cars. There will always be a market for people who want to drive their own cars.

      Yes, there will be a market. And that market will be dwindled down to the millionaires who can afford the mandatory insurance for their "classic" gas-powered cars. This will go on for a little while, until autonomous car makers start statistically destroying the notion of allowing a dangerous meatsack to control a vehicle on public roadways (remember we humans kill thousands of other humans driving these death traps around all day), along with the environmentalists screaming about pollution. As autonomous EV solutions become the pinnacle of health and safety, human drivers failing to safely control and maintain their own death traps will become too large of a liability to ignore.

      Software: Open source software is the counterweight. Microsoft Windows has gotten a lot better in the last decade and I strongly credit Apple and Linux for that change. Companies won't innovate unless they have to and because Microsoft slowed down too much they lost the lead.

      When one vendor proves a revenue model works among the masses, the rest follow suit. This is why SaaS will eventually consume the market that dominates right now. Watch and see. Even if open-sourced solutions were proven cheaper and more reliable, it's not the default option, and consumers are incredibly lazy, which is why open-source won't stand a chance until it IS the default option. Laziness alone creates massive revenue for those who command the default status, and those who currently hold that status wield great power to stay there.

      Phones: I own my phone and subscribe to a prepaid monthly plan. It's about three years old and I don't think it will last another year. I honestly wish Microsoft was still pushing their phone because I do have faith that they would keep their OS up to date (unlike android) and they wouldn't intentionally slow down the phone to promote people buying phones (I'm not actually convinced that Apple did that for that reason)

      Your desire for a Windows phone tends to confirm that you are the 1%, swimming upstream against the masses who continue to push vendors to make hardware for fashions sake, with a replacement schedule as volatile. I tend to agree with you and the notion of hardware lasting much longer, but our opinion does not matter. We are drowned out and irrelevant against the millions of people who simply do not care They don't care how much it costs. They don't care how little a model has changed from the one made just one year prior. They don't care about how long it will last. They care about rose gold color options.

      Voting with your wallet always works, it's just to what degree does it work?

      If you threw Microsoft a million dollars of your own money, think they would bring the Windows Phone back? I'd say that defines the degree in which common sense solutions stand a chance against the fashionista masses.

      My advice: save on what you can and invest in these companies so that when they make money, you make money.

      Of course. It might be slightly irritating to support the companies that create the anti-product, but I know when an investment is wise.

    4. Re:The Death of Ownership by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      The Always Connected PC is just another toll of the death knell of ownership.

      Over exaggerating much? How is the idea of something being on, available and connected anything to do with ownership?
      Currently my desktop PC at home is and Always Connected PC. It's always on, and always connected.

      Is it such a disaster to get the same level of functionality on my laptop? Does not having to whip out my phone and enable the mobile hotspot suddenly mean that someone else owns my stuff?

      Get a grip.

    5. Re:The Death of Ownership by geekmux · · Score: 1, Interesting

      The Always Connected PC is just another toll of the death knell of ownership.

      Over exaggerating much? How is the idea of something being on, available and connected anything to do with ownership? Currently my desktop PC at home is and Always Connected PC. It's always on, and always connected.

      Is it such a disaster to get the same level of functionality on my laptop? Does not having to whip out my phone and enable the mobile hotspot suddenly mean that someone else owns my stuff?

      Get a grip.

      The Adobe Design suite of tools used to be a fairly expensive product that you paid a one-time license for. Now, it's a subscription model. You just pay monthly. Forever.

      You used to be able to buy a cell phone at a reasonable price, and then sign up for service. Now smartphones are so expensive that you take out a 2-year loan on them, paying for the hardware with the service. Because smartphones barely last past that agreement, you now hold a perpetual lease for phone hardware. You just pay that cost forever now. It's just "normal" now for everyone to lease a phone. Wonder how long it will take for that "normal" mentality to bleed over into car ownership? Probably not long. Peer pressure still works at all ages.

      Pay one time for the Office suite of software? Nope. Now there's Office 365, your apps served to you in exchange for a monthly perpetual fee.

      Pay for a DVD and own it forever? Nope, there's a monthly Netflix charge now. Buy and own CDs? Nope, pay a monthly online music streaming service. And yeah, I get the whole "but I have access to so much more". That argument falls flat when you realize you're being forced to pay for 50 channels of content you want and 500,000 channels of bullshit you don't. Oh, and don't forget the fact that content providers continue to fracture off, so you'll pay multiple vendors to get those 50 channels you want. HBO, Disney, Hulu, UFC, Netflix...the content fracturing will continue because they're winning. You continue to pay more and more because it's "cheap". The Death by 1,000 Cuts tactic will win every time because people fall for it.

      Your devices will get dumber, and the cloud will get larger and larger, which you will pay forever to access the services you want. Stop paying? No more access. It's that fucking simple, and if you can't see the painfully obvious patterns regarding ownership and greed being rather addicted to proven revenue streams, I don't know what more to say other than wake up. The disaster is not functionality. The disaster is the $500/month shakedown you'll pay to the service mafia to sustain a "normal" lifestyle in the future. The Always Connected PC is just the next cut out of 1,000.

  13. Re:You think your cellular bill is already expensi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    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.

    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....

  14. speak for yourself. by nimbius · · Score: 1

    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.
  15. These things cost $799! LOL by Hal_Porter · · Score: 3, Informative

    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;
    1. Re:These things cost $799! LOL by jimtheowl · · Score: 1

      They could be "Free" with a dataplan(*).

      That way, the customer will be "saving" $799.

    2. Re:These things cost $799! LOL by Hal_Porter · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's probably 'free' with 24 month subscription to a $50 a month data plan. I.e. by the time you realise the thing is a dog it's too late because you're on the hook for $1200.

      --
      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;
    3. Re:These things cost $799! LOL by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      It is what it is, a smartphone chip. Microsoft's partnership with Qualcomm dates back to the Nokia Lumia. This latest effort to relaunch Windows RT is nothing more than a salvage attempt to recoup some of the IP from the Windows Phone effort.

      So performance should be relative to an Android flagship phone, adjusted for running Windows...

    4. Re:These things cost $799! LOL by Hal_Porter · · Score: 2

      An i7-7500U still gets 3468/7500

      https://browser.geekbench.com/...

      An i7-8550u does even better 4829/14721

      https://browser.geekbench.com/...

      Even an i5-7200U is still 3535/6701

      https://browser.geekbench.com/...

      A Core m3-7Y32 is 3709/6844

      https://browser.geekbench.com/...

      The 835 is around level with a Celeron 3865U at 2296/3832

      https://browser.geekbench.com/...

      I think most people would say a Celeron 3865U is a slow chip

      --
      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;
  16. Re:Um no. by Penguinisto · · Score: 1

    Kinda dumb anyway, though; for awhile about a decade ago, laptops regularly came out with SIM chips; for some odd reason, nobody really used that feature (because damn, Verizon is *expensive* just to get a dedicated data line for your 'puter, doubly so nowadays when you can (well, mostly) turn your phone into a wifi hotspot.)

    (the top-end tablets still have this feature, albeit an optional one. Rare to see it being used, though, at least in personal experience.)

    Sometimes I wonder if they're in it to promote progress, or just looking for a new massive tax writeoff.

    --
    Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
  17. Re:Blah by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    iPads have had (optional) 3G/4G network connectivity since the original launch in 2010.

    So why is this news? If anything, Windows is behind by over half a decade.

  18. I have a Kindle like that by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Always connected and it doesn't cost a dime in +100 countries.

    Now if I could get uTorrent to run on it...

  19. Re:always connected by ourlovecanlastforeve · · Score: 1

    Really? Mine takes about 8 seconds.

  20. Re:Um no. by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

    The entire world.

  21. Re:Um no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    If my 'always connected' device loses its connection, who do I sue?

    Don't panic!

    Your Lovesense inflatable buttplug will still function manually in offline mode.

    Gape on, Dude!

    HTH

  22. ALWAYS connected? Really? by SteveSgt · · Score: 1

    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."

    1. Re: ALWAYS connected? Really? by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      I wrapped my laptop in tinfoil and now I'm going to sue because it's no longer connected.

  23. Re:Blah by mikael · · Score: 1

    Laptops had PCMCIA ports back in the 2000's. You could get a GPRS/3G/4G card with a SIM Card slot back then. Pop in a SIM card and you were "always connected" because Linux or WIndows treated it as just another network connection.

    --
    Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  24. Shitty infrastructure in the US by DogDude · · Score: 1

    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.
  25. Re:Is there any benefit? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Best guess is that the whole thing is integrated so that the less tech-savvy won't have to fiddle with dongles, plus the actual laptops are probably designed to be used like smartphones (quick boot/CPU optimized for standby/etc). Though realistically the only benefit is that mobile carriers are going to make some serious bank off of ignorant users who burn through their data plans because they forgot to switch from LTE to wifi before streaming.

  26. Not Cortana by zlives · · Score: 1

    Cortana is same from discontinuation new target acquired, cancellation is 3,2...

  27. * MS will not cover roaming fees up to $15-20M by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    * MS will not cover roaming fees that can hit up to $15-20M. So that 1GB update may cost YOU $15K++

  28. Re:Is there any benefit? by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

    Absolutely, the "Always Connected PC" will be able to report how it is being used, even if YOU don't have a data plan for it to connect for.

    --
    The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
  29. Have you read ToS? by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

    "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.

  30. netboot on wireless?? much less pub internet by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    netboot on wireless?? much less pub internet

  31. $10 per system outlet / line fee and you must rent by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    $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.

  32. just come to my house at 1060 w addison chicago by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    just come to my house at 1060 w addison chicago il and do in person

  33. Re:Blah by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    The key word is "optional".

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  34. Re:Blah by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

    If by optional you mean vendors can ship a wifi only device and charge a premium for 4G then yes.

    But this Snapdragon is the same as in any smartphone. It makes no sense to offer wifi only and needn't be connected to 4G without a SIM plan?

  35. Re:Blah by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I mean optional as in not mandatory.

    "Unable to determine your license status. Please move to an area with a better signal and try again. Shutting down ..."

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  36. Re: Um no. by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

    It's OK, that's what we'll have Always Connected(tm) laptops for, they'll have a connection even when your phone doesn't, so you can just use your Always Connected(tm) laptop as a hotspot for your phone.

  37. Re:You think your cellular bill is already expensi by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    Just wait for those Win10 updates!

    Which don't download over cellular by default in Windows 10...

  38. Re:You think your cellular bill is already expensi by LoneTech · · Score: 1

    "...MS to start putting ads and behavior tracking into Windows..." Did you somehow miss Windows 10 completely?