Adapting through the changing times
Microsoft’s foray into designing software for mobile devices has not been exactly successful: Windows Phone was a flop, and has been considered as dead since last year. Even Windows Mobile, its granddaddy, was considered an atrocity when it was introduced in the early 2000s during the PocketPC era.
With all these flops, however, Microsoft wants to prove that third time’s a charm, and they’re doing it differently this time: By introducing its Edge browser for Android and iOS, just like what Samsung did when it made its Internet browser available for Android devices.
Now you might ask: With all the browsers out there, why would one choose Microsoft Edge over Google Chrome? Aside from the usual features like Favorites, Reading List, New Tab Page, and Reading View, Microsoft Edge has a Continue on PC function, which is very useful if you are using a laptop running Windows 10. What this function does is it transfers whatever you are reading on your smartphone to your PC. That means if you are browsing some of our articles here at Unbox on your mobile phone, you will see them when you start Microsoft Edge on your laptop.
There are a few caveats though: Edge for Android and iOS supports only smartphones using Android 4.4 or later or iOS 10.2 or later. Support for tablets will be made in the future. Also, you need to have a Microsoft account to make use of Continue on PC.
As for Microsoft’s other product, Microsoft Launcher is, in essence, the evolution of Arrow Launcher. Aside from having Continue on PC like Edge, Microsoft Launcher has a few tricks on its sleeve: you can put icons of people you frequently contact right at your home screen and have a tailored feed of our frequently used apps, news, events, and what nots when you swipe right. Only Android users on Android 4.0.3 or higher can make use of these nifty features from
With these two new apps from Microsoft, the Baltimore tech giant is going head-to-head against Google, which is strengthening its hardware and software portfolio with its recent releases. We just hope that these would be as successful as Microsoft’s Surface line, and not another flop.
Source: VentureBeat
