Sadly, you'll probably never get to buy one of these handy, second-display Windows 10 Mobile covers.

If Microsoft hadn't called it quits on Windows Phone, the company might have developed its newly revealed prototype phone cover with a secondary low-power E Ink display.

The cover is the work of a team at Microsoft Research in the UK, which revealed the display cover at a conference this month on ubiquitous computing.

While Apple's and Google's recent updates encourage users to spend less time looking at their phones, Microsoft's found that users "want a larger, always-on screen".

Microsoft's answer to this problem is a second-screen prototype in the form of a 3mm thick Alcantara cover with an E Ink display that runs off a Lumia 640 smartphone.

As to why Microsoft Research is using the three-year-old Lumia 640, the company was actually carrying out research into secondary displays back in 2015, the year the Lumia 640 was released.

To save time, the researchers didn't bother adding a touch overlay to the E Ink cover but rather included five touch 'buttons' at the bottom of the display.

"The touch buttons and display connect to interface circuitry added to the rear of the phone -- a Lumia 640 -- via flat-flex cables which run through the flip cover 'hinge' along with a bend sensor," the researchers explain.

"The cover itself consists of a bezel of soft-touch fabric, which is heat-bonded to the display and to the rear surface of Alcantara using custom-made heated tooling. To reduce cost and lead time we 3D-printed this tooling in stainless steel at Shapeways."

The E Ink cover was motivated by the results of interviews where people reported wanting quicker and easier ways to access information stored on their phones. Interestingly, given the trend towards larger display phones, people reported not wanting a physically larger phone.

The five buttons on the E Ink display allow users to press and hold a button to pin screens to the display. Users can then save different items like an air ticket, a to-do list, the weather, or even Cortana to the various screens.

The researchers also detail ideas that weren't supported by a non-touch E Ink screen for dual-screen actions, such as using the E Ink display to research online while writing on the main screen, using the E Ink display as a keyboard, or editing a document across two screens.

"The users we worked with during this project were genuinely surprised to learn that a display could be integrated in such a thin form factor and without materially affecting battery life," the researchers note.

"Despite the limitations of our basic 'screenshot' experience and the lack of full-screen touch interaction, anecdotal evidence from our user trials showed the value of easy access to previously stored information such as electronic boarding passes, train timetables, and shopping lists."

Other contributors to the project were from Porsche, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Northumbria University, and Oxford University.

You can now add the desktop mode to your Surface Pro with this carbon-fiber kickstand add-on.

Microsoft billed the Surface Pro 2017 as the "most versatile laptop" ever with its tablet, laptop, and studio modes. But one thing it didn't offer was a desktop mode.

Now Surface Pro users can add a portable desktop mode to the picture with the foldable, carbon-fiber Surface Stand, designed by UK civil engineer and product developer Rory Flanagan, who's pitching it as an ergonomic answer to long hours staring down at a laptop.

The Surface Stand is a premium accessory for the Surface Pro and will be available to backers for $125 on crowdfunding site Indiegogo this week. The stand can be used with the Surface Pro 2017 model, Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 3, and Surface Go.

The main benefit of the foldable Surface Stand is that it can raise a Surface Pro to eye level, encouraging the user to look straight ahead rather than down towards the device when it's in laptop mode.

WATCH VIDEO HERE:


The stand obviously won't stop anyone from slouching, but it could encourage users to work with a better posture. Generally, it could be more comfortable to look at the screen when working for long stretches.

The stand is designed for mobility and can be folded away to become a 0.25-inch (6mm) thick rectangular plate. When folded it measures 8.5in x 8.25in x 0.25in (215mm x 210mm x 6mm).

Using carbon fiber, Flanagan has ended up with a product weighing 0.7lb (311gm), meaning Surface Pro owners seeking a mobile desktop experience would need to carry a total weight of about 1.1kg, excluding the keyboard and mouse.

In desktop mode, the stand unravels into a tall and slim structure, with the Surface Pro held in place via grips secured to the device's kickstand.

That's why the Surface Stand doesn't work with the more widely sold iPad Pro, and that's fine with Flanagan, who told ZDNet he wanted to make a "niche" exclusively for Surface Pro and Surface Go users.

Desktop mode was designed primarily for use with a keyboard. Flanagan said it would "wobble slightly" if the screen was touched in this mode, and this shove test suggests it should be resilient to accidental knocks and bumps.

The shove test suggests the stand should resist accidental knocks. Source: Rory Flanagan/YouTube

Besides, tablet mode would be a better option when using touch. The stand locks into a triangle structure with an apex that wedges between the Surface Pro and its kickstand.

Finally, there's also a portrait mode for using with a pen, which adds another fixed mode that isn't available without the stand.

Microsoft is tipped to be overhauling the design of the forthcoming Surface Pro 6, so it remains to be seen whether the Surface Stand will work with it.


SOURCE ZDnet:

Back by popular demand, apparently, and the Wileyfox Pro now costs around $100, down from $260.

The Wileyfox Pro can now be had for £80 ($105), down from £200 ($265).
If you really, really want a phone running an OS that even Microsoft has abandoned, you can once again buy the Windows 10 Mobile Wileyfox Pro.

A spokesperson for the UK phone brand told Windows fan site, Windows Latest, that the recently discontinued Window 10 handheld "is actually now back in stock and being manufactured again due to popular demand".

The Wileyfox Pro now can be bought for £80 ($105), reduced from the less realistic asking price of £200 ($265).

Other than the pleasure of holding a rare Windows 10 phone with Microsoft's Live Tiles, owners will get a five-inch display handset with 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, running on a Quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor.

The company's Wileyfox Pro page yesterday listed the Wileyfox Pro as available, but today says supplies have sold out. Presumably it will be back again soon though if, as claimed, it is being manufactured again due to popular demand.

While Microsoft has stopped developing new features for Windows 10 Mobile, handsets like the Wileyfox Pro will continue receiving Microsoft's cumulative updates -- that is, bug and security fixes -- until late 2019.

The revival of the Windows 10 phone follows Wileyfox entering administration in February.

As CNET reported at the time, the company's administrators said Wileyfox funds dried up after its Russian backer was restricted from lending money abroad by the Central Bank of Russia.

However, in March Wileyfox Group struck a licensing deal with fellow UK phone maker, STK, allowing it to sell Wileyfox phones and provide after-sales support.


SOURCE: