Powered by a laptop-class Intel processor, would this have blown your mind? pic.twitter.com/0n2yZPvU65
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 4, 2016
Microsoft struggles when it comes to ARM chips, seeing no success with Windows RT or Windows Phones. When it comes to Intel hardware they do much better however, being able to draw on their massive legacy of x86 apps.
This has led many to suggest Microsoft should dump Windows Mobile for simply Windows 10 running on mobile x86 chips, but many naysayers have said this was impossible, despite a few Intel powered Android phones shipping in the past.
Now Evan Blass has tweeted a picture of what we suspect may have been a design concept of an Intel-powered Windows Phone which according to his tweet would have run on a laptop class (ie not Atom) Intel processor.
In many ways however this power would have been wasted on Windows Mobile, unless Continuum for Phones allowed one to unleash the full power of desktop apps.
Blass’s tweet suggest this device is from the past and that there are no plans to take it forward. Hopefully he will release more information soon to let us know exactly what we missed out on.
Update: Blass has posted some more images which are clearly marketing material, suggesting the project may be further along than we suspected earlier.
His tweet in particular says it’s “More than just a concept” and to stay tuned for more.
.@tomwarren Much more than just a concept. Stay tuned. pic.twitter.com/KmPYCPyGV4
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) November 4, 2016
See those pictures in larger size below:
The last picture in particular is interesting, because if we are looking at a wireless Continuum for phones scenario, the app on the screen is clearly a win32 desktop app, suggesting we may be looking at Continuum with actual desktop apps.
Let the speculation flow below.
Update 2: Its a Dell! Read more here.