With "Surface Centaurus", can Microsoft avoid Samsung Galaxy Fold errors?

The Samsung Galaxy Fold is among the first of a new wave of foldable phones that is expected to dominate the innovation of tablets and phones over the next decade. Notably, the Fold was also plagued with launch issues, with the first revision units failing relatively easily in various scenarios of average smartphone usage.

After some technical adjustments, Samsung has started sending out evaluation units again, and first impressions seem relatively positive. Our sister site, Android Central, explained in detail how Samsung had improved the design of the flexible screen.

Despite the improvements, the Galaxy Fold still screams for me a device of the "generation 1", something that only passionate enthusiasts will probably buy. I had to convince myself do not to buy because as defective as it may be over time, there is something also incredibly convincing about it. Surface fans have been dreaming for a few years now, since the first "Surface Phone" or "Andromeda" patents started appearing online.

Nowadays, Andromeda seems to be a little more than a scourge. But Microsoft does not intend to let Samsung and other Android OEMs have all the fun foldable, and it is currently preparing its own tablet "Centaurus", according to rumors. Can Microsoft avoid the gen-one problems that have made me flee Galaxy Fold?

Samsung has made many improvements to the revived Fold, including a more robust folding mechanism and a narrower protectorate around the screen. However, a number of design flaws are a compromise too obvious to overlook. The way the Galaxy Fold does not go flat when it's closed looks clumsy and poorly formed. The miniature display on the outside, while folded, also looks a little strange, with its big and low.

This is certainly not the exact product that Samsung would have wanted to to ship, but is rather representative of the design constraints inherent in our current technology. Folding displays introduce a whole host of construction challenges, exerting immense pressure on the screen with repeated folds, creating folds that not only look ugly, but can potentially cause more serious damage.

These are the characteristics of the first generation innovation. And while it will be far from perfect, it will remain incredibly impressive and help pave the way for a future where mobile devices can do much more, while being much more portable.

Foldable items are incredible … or will be

While most smartphone manufacturers appear to be releasing the same phone for several years in a row, they rely on marketing to sell what I think is incredibly boring. Samsung, LG, Huawei and a few others are currently exploring the limits. There is a lot more you can potentially do with a fold form factor, especially when hinge technology improves. Laptops have seen similar innovations, but of course they can not fit in your pocket.

A smartphone deployed in "tent mode" is convenient for the consumption of multimedia content. Folded up like a Nintendo 3DS, you have on-screen video game controls that do not mask the display of what you play. The same goes for document capture or even video editing on powerful Android apps such as InShot and Adobe Rush, which are starting to set the tone for complete professional computer programs. And then, there are just the basic obvious benefits of multitasking.

Modern devices may not be able to take advantage of these scenarios aujourd & # 39; huibut as new products with folding displays are launched, application developers will begin to integrate and fill in the niches that come with the additional screen. Where full Android tablets may not have been able to take the world by storm, foldable tablets can help bridge the gap between Android phones and more productive productivity devices, including Chromebooks . This could possibly pose a more serious problem to Microsoft's local platforms.

Surface challenge

Microsoft has lost the mobile race dramatically, putting the long-term health of Windows at risk. It's pretty unfortunate that in 2019, if I want to use the entirety of Instagram or Twitter fully functional, I still need an Android or iOS device. Windows 10 Microsoft Store is still a wasteland and the development of Windows, in general, seems to have slowed down, with few interesting applications or "fun" social programs heading to the platform.

With Surface Centaurus expected to be unveiled in October 2019, Microsoft could also launch the Windows Lite operating system, which actually seems to be another asset for the creation of a lightweight and agile computing platform that makes optional the hefty legacy Windows, offering more versatile IT solutions based on ARM. the process. Centaurus should be a folding tablet and will be the spearhead of a broader initiative of various PC makers to build new devices in new form factors. Like Windows Phone, however, it will live or die depending on the support provided by the application developers. Centaurus will be able to take advantage of Win32 applications, even Android applications, through a form of virtualization, but I do not see how these solutions will help Centaurus users to take full advantage of the advantages of a folding device.

The Surface team is renowned for building incredibly polished aircraft. She has years of experience since upgrading the Surface Pro range to her sixth generation. Although Surface can bypass some of the design challenges faced by Samsung's smallest handheld device, it all depends on the devices that make the most of their folding screens.

Folding appliances do not need to be a gadget

The experience of a folding device is not limited to the problems and design constraints of Generation 1. In addition to the basic multitasking of side-by-side applications, there are a multitude of ways to make folding screens more versatile than ever before. A simple phone, laptop or tablet, thus providing a bridge between several user scenarios offered exclusively by these older devices. Microsoft may have an advantage, by offering a larger tablet with more space for its components, but by adding in parallel a brand new operating system, called Windows Core OS, with many difficult questions to solve.

Samsung's phone may have an unsightly gap and a weird little screen on the back, but it may still prove to be a nicer "folding" experience as a Gen-one device, based only on Android.

As a wise extraterrestrial technology blogger, Started, folding wars have …

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