Intel ULP SoCs

[zed]

and not because everyone is suddenly using ios and Android devices with a keyboard and mouse to perform important productivity tasks.

dude you're just 'not getting it' ™
The thing is the majority of ppl are not simulating nuclear explosions or using autocad, what people actually do on devices mostly (pc/phones/tablets) is facebook, browse the internet, youtube, listen to music etc
mate this is the reality in 2016

then they actually need a >35W Core i7 and/or discrete graphics card that will do circles around a twice as expensive ipad pro

Interesting ,can you point me to these Fanless cpu/gpus (and yes whilst watercooled are fanless they don't count)

Are there professional hipsters out there who refuse to let go of their ipads and write 3000 word articles in a capacitive screen, taking tens of hours to do it?

prepare to have your mind blown
http://www.smh.com.au/news/mobiles-...is-all-the-rage/2007/12/03/1196530522543.html

Remarkably, half of Japan's top-10 selling works of fiction in the first six months of the year were composed the same way

This is 2007, with typing on phones keypads (I dont know if you remember but then it was multiple presses for just for one character), Myself I prefer using a proper keyboard, but using swype on my phone I can type about the same speed as I can as on a proper keyboard.
Myself I'm a PC guy, like yourself, I use it for programming, making music ( as well as internet) but face it now we're in the minority, its now 2016, the internet has taken over for most ppl

 

[Entropy]

One of the major complaints I've continued to see with regards to the iPad Pro when it comes to content creation is content management and easy of interoperability. IE - they want a real file systems that is user accessible, access to user controlled external media, and ease of exporting and importing files (to and from Windows devices) without having to resort to cloud storage.

Apple at least thus far are very insistent on none of those things happening as it reduces control over their walled garden. We'll have to see if they come to their senses and at least offer up support for memory cards even if they still refuse to give access to physically connected external storage devices (via USB, for example).

Without that, it'll have a niche similar to how Mac continues to have a small niche in content creation, but Windows devices will likely dominate in the end. Similar to how Mac once ruled desktop publishing but desktop publishing is now mostly dominated by Windows PCs. Then again many have familiarity with iOS so maybe they'll be willing to put up with the extra headaches required to do content creation on the iPad Pro.

Regards,
SB

The lack of a readily accessible file system is an issue for some uses, although overall I feel it may just as much be an issue for some users who have a certain workflow ingrained. Such as me. In app document management and sharing over cloud resources seem to work well for a lot of people. (As I'm writing this response on an iPad, the "Upload a File" button allows me to choose an image or movie, or to choose any file from my iCloud drive for instance. Covers most needs, even though iOS pretends not to know what a "file" is!)
But yes. It is undeniably a hurdle for some cases.

@ToTTenTranz: I should have said phone SoCs for clarity. We'll see if Apollo Lake gets any tablet design wins.
I actually find the concept of a "phone" being the base unit of personal computing, changing it's capabilities by attaching to different peripherals very, very appealing, and have felt that way since my Palm Pilot days. But it has been technically feasible for some time without a lot of progress, for somewhat opaque reasons.

 

[wco81]

I mean it's nice that a phone would be powerful enough that you can plug it into a monitor and keyboard and keep using it.

That's the Continuum thing that MS talks about.

That would be a nice option if you're away from your home or your office, like at a hotel or something. That way, no need to take a laptop.

However, other than that situation, what advantage would there be to just use the phone at home or your office? You'd have to have a pretty powerful phone, not the $200 model. But if you can afford a flagship phone with the fastest SOCs, you're going to have laptops and a nice desktop in all likelihood. Or can afford such gear if you have a big need to do a lot of work requiring keyboard, mouse and a big monitor. And no matter how powerful the phone, a desktop or laptop from $500 and up is going to still have faster CPU, more RAM and more storage than any flagship phone.

Most people these days have a computer at their desk as well as their phones. So what problem would this Continuum phone exactly solve? Maybe not having to upgrade the PC as often? Sure but that's a trend that's hurting PC sales already. I guess if MS produces a Surface Phone with Continuum capabilities, that's more margin for them (than someone upgrading their Windows PC) and maybe it could gain some traction marketshare wise.

I think the people who would use just their phone for desktop tasks would be people wanting to do it just for the sake of doing it, not because they didn't have access to a good desktop or laptop.

Again, Continuum phones may be advantageous for people who travel a lot, though a lot of hotels would then have to offer displays and keyboard/mouse that they could plug into. Certainly a lot of hotel chains which cater to business travelers could do this. Typically they have little office space or "business centers" where they have printers and PCs that hotel guests can use. But business travelers may decide they rather still pack their laptops, just in case. Plus they could do work from their hotel rooms instead of going down to the business center. Better yet, a tablet which weighs 1.5 pounds or less might be a better choice to do some work as well as be handy for browsing or watching video content when not working.

 

[Entropy]

I mean it's nice that a phone would be powerful enough that you can plug it into a monitor and keyboard and keep using it.

That's the Continuum thing that MS talks about.

That would be a nice option if you're away from your home or your office, like at a hotel or something. That way, no need to take a laptop.

However, other than that situation, what advantage would there be to just use the phone at home or your office? You'd have to have a pretty powerful phone, not the $200 model. But if you can afford a flagship phone with the fastest SOCs, you're going to have laptops and a nice desktop in all likelihood. Or can afford such gear if you have a big need to do a lot of work requiring keyboard, mouse and a big monitor. And no matter how powerful the phone, a desktop or laptop from $500 and up is going to still have faster CPU, more RAM and more storage than any flagship phone.

Most people these days have a computer at their desk as well as their phones. So what problem would this Continuum phone exactly solve? Maybe not having to upgrade the PC as often? Sure but that's a trend that's hurting PC sales already.

This is probably one of the reasons Microsoft haven't pushed this really. One of the points would be a reduction in the number of computing devices you need to own and make space for to preferably a single one.

I guess if MS produces a Surface Phone with Continuum capabilities, that's more margin for them (than someone upgrading their Windows PC) and maybe it could gain some traction marketshare wise.

I think the people who would use just their phone for desktop tasks would be people wanting to do it just for the sake of doing it, not because they didn't have access to a good desktop or laptop.

Disagree. It was some 20 years ago that I realized that everything but the Big Iron molecular calculations I did could just as well be performed on a Palm Pilot. Lightweight databasing, Word processing, some small spreadsheets - nothing requiring much in the way of processing power. With image editing and gaming that shifted back a bit, but then again that pendulum has swung back to mobile devices in latter years due to improvements in processing power. Basically I use desktop computers out of habit, not need. An iPad Pro could theoretically do everything non-professional but run my Steam library of games. And if it had a decent way of handling RAW image editing and libraries, that "theoretically" would shift to an "in practise".

However, for some of my computing I simply like using a big screen, keyboard and mouse.

Again, Continuum phones may be advantageous for people who travel a lot, though a lot of hotels would then have to offer displays and keyboard/mouse that they could plug into. Certainly a lot of hotel chains which cater to business travelers could do this. Typically they have little office space or "business centers" where they have printers and PCs that hotel guests can use. But business travelers may decide they rather still pack their laptops, just in case. Plus they could do work from their hotel rooms instead of going down to the business center. Better yet, a tablet which weighs 1.5 pounds or less might be a better choice to do some work as well as be handy for browsing or watching video content when not working.

You come up with some nice use cases on your own. ;-)
Personally, I've always preferred ultra portable + desktop to laptops. The desktop is the dinosaur. A large portion of the younger generation of computer users have never used a desktop computer at all. For many of those, having a means to drive peripherals from their phone would be an overall upgrade to the current compromise computer that a typical laptop constitutes. And a large portion of those work laptops I see docked to reasonable screens around the offices here would be replaced in an instant.
Market segmentation strategies makes this an awkward proposition for the large PC-interests, Apple have their own vision, and Android doesn't have a desktop software tradition. From a computing capability point of view though, the time is ripe for the concept to be tested.
Doesn't mean it will ever truly happen, Continuum seems dead in the water now, Apple is slowly moving in that direction but is reluctant as far as extensibility is concerned. We'll see what Android will support in the future. At present, unfortunately, the concept remains untested.

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Doesn't mean it will ever truly happen, Continuum seems dead in the water now, Apple is slowly moving in that direction but is reluctant as far as extensibility is concerned. We'll see what Android will support in the future. At present, unfortunately, the concept remains untested.

IMO, I think Google is moving to deprecate Chrome OS and replace it with a laptop friendly Android interface. Their first iteration was relatively horrible so we'll see how they progress with that. But it seems to be going the direction you'd like.

Hopefully Continuum isn't dead, but more of it still being in hibernation/gestation. It's by far the most impressive thing I've seen in the mobile phone space in a decade.

Regards,
SB