Smartphones: The Future of Personal Computers?

In 2015, Microsoft tried to obliterate the boundaries between smartphones and computers by introducing Continuum, a docking station that could turn a Windows 10-powered smartphone into a desktop computer. Two years later, Samsung did something similar, but this time on an Android platform, with Samsung DeX. It came with a user interface similar to Chrome OS and features like multi-window operation and such. Both of these solutions had one major shortcoming: they were limited to certain smartphone models only. Continuum only worked with Microsoft’s Lumia 950 and 950 XL, while Samsung DeX was only available for its Galaxy S8 and Note8 models. Running the Red Flush smartphone app – the future of mobile entertainment – in a desktop-like experience was off-limits for users of other phone models. But others were also inspired by the idea of turning a smartphone into a fully-fledged computer – and (almost) universal solutions were presented last year.










