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Microsoft. - Monday, December 3, 2018 at 12:00 PM
Cellular voice could be the next step in merging phones and PCs
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In 2016 Microsoft and Qualcomm announced Windows 10 on ARM. The achievement
promised to make traditional PCs of current and future form factors more like
smartphones in relation to battery life, constant connectivity and being
always-on. (This is in conjunction with other always connected PC
solutions<https://www.windowscentral.com/amd-and-qualcomm-join-forces-always-connected-pc-effort>).
The overarching message here is the evolution of the PC in relation to making
computing via Windows a natural part of the cellular roadmap. Smartphones have
evolved in the opposite direction, from simple voice-equipped "cellular native"
devices to complex pocket computers with
telephony<https://www.windowscentral.com/todays-smartphones-are-pcs-and-thats-challenge-and-opportunity-microsoft>.
Cellular infrastructure, much of it defined by Qualcomm's technology, powers
the always-connected smartphone and communication paradigms of data and voice
to which we have grown accustomed. Windows PC computing began as a
"disconnected" experience that slowly gained a "connected" role over the years
via wired and Wi-Fi solutions. Still, both a technological and perception
distinction between the two computing platforms remained. Our collective
mindsets have long accepted that there is a chasm between "always connected
mobile computing" and "sometimes connected PC computing." Some have even argued
that eSIM-equipped always connected cellular PCs are irrelevant or
unneeded<https://www.windowscentral.com/why-windows-10-arm-haters-are-wrong>
because we have Wi-Fi and tethering.
The issue, however, isn't about just having connectivity which Wi-Fi and
tethering provides. It's about how PCs with secure and consistent connectivity
as part of the cellular roadmap potentially impacts the evolution of computing
and communication. Combined with
5G<https://www.windowscentral.com/how-microsofts-big-bets-5g-may-be-bad-your-health>
and edge
computing<https://www.windowscentral.com/what-intelligent-cloud-and-how-does-it-affect-mobile>
eSIM-equipped always-connected PCs with voice may be the next step in merging
the progressively overlapping PC computing and telephony-powered communication
and computing paradigms.
Windows 10, consumer choice and changing paradigms
[embedded content]
Always connected PCs use eSIM or, embedded SIM, technology. eSIM, like
traditional removable SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards identify and
connect a mobile device on a network. Unlike SIM cards eSIMs can be remotely
provisioned to work with another carrier. In other words, consumers don't have
to physically go to carrier stores to switch SIM cards when they switch
carriers. In relation to ACPCs users can currently switch between data plans
and carriers virtually on the fly directly from the Microsoft Store on Window
10.
Additionally, eSIM allows multiple devices to share the same plan and phone
number. Currently, eSIM-equipped Apple Watches can share an iPhone's phone
number. China Unicom's pursuing similar implementations of sharing phone
numbers across multiple eSIM devices. This addresses concerns about adding
another plan when using connected devices like ACPCs and smartphones. The long
view for this technology is that eSIM will allow a host of connected devices
from cars to a cat's collar to share the same data plan.
In the short term eSIM-equipped ACPCs, Windows 10 and consumer choice, are
beginning to put pressure on carriers to be more competitive about their data
packages and to rethink the current carrier-based model. Earlier this year, for
instance, Sprint offered free data to consumers who bought an ACPC from them.
PCs on the cellular roadmap are already impacting telecoms and how they offer
data packages, which historically favored the carrier-phone-centric model.
As eSIM becomes more popular in smartphones, which are essentially pocket PCs,
and eSIM-equipped ACPCs grow in the market as the type of Windows PCs many
users choose, sharing a plan across multiple devices will likely become the
norm. Carriers will likely be compelled to push such plans to remain
competitive. These shifts that are beginning to happen around data and cellular
PCs are reshaping the carrier-consumer relationship and market infrastructure
that will also accommodate voice plans if voice comes to PCs.
Why Microsoft's mobile future may depend on
eSIM<https://www.windowscentral.com/why-esim-key-microsofts-mobile-strategy>
PCs with voice are still PCs
[embedded content]
Voice plans coming to PCs would fit well within Microsoft's current strategy.
Microsoft is positioning Windows PCs as the hub for users' cross-platform
digital experiences. Smartphone and PC integration through the Microsoft Graph,
the cloud, Cortana, Sets and apps like Your Phone help tie users' experiences
on iPhones and to a greater extent Android phones to Windows 10. Microsoft's
two-fold goal is to facilitate the smooth transition of digital experiences
across devices and ecosystems and to diminish in some scenarios users'
interaction with their smartphone while using a Windows PC.
For instance, currently, a text message sent to a phone and shared to a PC can
be answered from the PC without users ever retrieving the phone from a pocket
or bag. A natural progression of this overlapping computing-communication model
involves voice communication. If voice is added to cellular PCs a user while
working at a PC, could potentially answer (or place) a call directly from
Windows using the device's built-in microphone and speakers, or a wired or
Bluetooth headset.
Microsoft's Surface Headphone's may be its most important accessory
yet<https://www.windowscentral.com/surface-headphones-may-be-microsofts-most-important-accessory-yet>
Consumers' ability to choose carriers directly through Windows, Microsoft's
partnership with Qualcomm and others to ensure Windows PCs become a regular
part of the cellular roadmap and its investments in 5G and edge computing are
forging the necessary infrastructure to help push a convergence of PC computing
and voice communication. 5G will provide increased data capacity and speeds to
support autonomous device-to-device, in addition to device-to-network,
communication. This may help build the necessary network infrastructure for
more diverse computing-communication models. This may include varying
combinations of voice only or voice and video communication across computers of
varying sizes and configurations from pocketable, desktop and laptop to Surface
Hub-like PCs all sharing a single plan and phone number.
Shifting models
[https://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/large/public/field/image/2018/03/surface-pro-lte-sim-1.jpg?itok=5XESQ3ps]
Under this converging computing-communication paradigm, data and voice plans
would likely be less tied to a smartphone model since non-phone eSIM-equipped
personal devices would be growing parts of the cellular roadmap. Thus, under
this evolving model, in time, purchasing data and voice will likely no longer
be centered around buying a smartphone and then adding other devices to that
smartphone plan. As cellular Windows PCs of various sizes and form factors and
other eSIM devices, like wearables grow in use, the consumer-carrier
relationship will likely become even more "service-centric" rather than
"device-centric."
Carriers will likely begin focusing their models and marketing on voice and
data plans for all of a user's connected devices. PCs, mobile devices and even
connected cars will likely be able to share the same voice and data for
communication. Microsoft's investments in platform services that support
connected cars, the push toward transforming the PC into a mobile, always
connected device of various form factors coincides with this potential
computing-communication evolution. Microsoft's Surface Andromeda digital
journal which initially was to be slated as pocket PC, but maybe a larger
device, still fits within this computing-communication model.
If Microsoft's goal is to support voice as part of its cellular PC vision the
growing popularity of voice/video communication via screened devices may help
its reception. Google's Home Hub, Amazon's Echo Show, Facebook's Portal and
other smart displays are pushing "ambient" computing and communication via
screened devices into the mainstream.
Moving forward
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Cellular PCs with voice and a shared phone number may initially be more
relevant with business users working on PCs while also fielding phone calls.
However, the slowly increasing role of smart displays as communication tools
among consumers sets a precedence that a laptop, PC or tablet in a home could
also serve as a "smart display" and be a person's "phone" in some contexts.
Furthermore, Microsoft, its OEMs partners, and others are exploring innovative
PC designs from inspirational pocketable configurations like Intel's Tiger
Rapids to larger PCs. As computing and communication continue to overlap,
creative and form-shifting hardware will likely accommodate more diverse
communication scenarios than we are accustomed to under the current
phone-centric slate device model.
One thing is certain; nothing remains the same and change is inevitable. And
voice coming to cellular PCs could add a dimension to the
computing-communication paradigm that further merges PCs and phones.
https://www.windowscentral.com/cellular-voice-could-be-next-step-merging-phones-and-pcs
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info<http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
