Samsung DeX: One More Step

Samsung DeX: One More Step to the Post-PC Future

Tech bloggers and IT company executives have often spoken of a post PC world, but the whole concept of it has remained obscure for the majority of users. It’s hard to imagine our everyday life without computers, and the much discussed flight ban on laptops has proved it. Many see the ban as a violation of the human rights.

However, we now have a glimpse of what the world could look like in a couple of years, thanks to Samsung’s cell phone dock, DeX. Samsung, a Korean company, suggests that the DeX be paired with the Samsung S8. Big deal, some say, desktop docks are nothing new. They work like charger and keep the phone in a comfortable position while you work.

DeX by Samsung is entirely different. It’s not a peripheral, but a real break-through. DeX connects the phone not to the desktop, but to the display. Therefore, the handset is recognized as a full-scale desktop so that you can work on a larger screen.

Microsoft tried the same concept some time ago with the Continuum project. However, the Continuum failed to gain popularity. Samsung, though, in a desperate attempt to make up for the Galaxy S7 disaster, gave the DeX much better publicity and a better design.

The ball-shaped black cradle features HDMI, Ethernet, 2 USB 2.0 ports, and 1 USB –Type C for the charging cable. The dock station also sports the built-in cooling fan for better phone performance. The DeX can also work like a charger. Weighing just 230 g, it is meant for travel.

Of course, one dock station, even the one with a great design and plenty of ports, is not enough. You need an OS, a multitask OS with multi-window. Samsung S8 works just like this. When plugged into the display, you’ll get the full-scale working desktop, similar to that of Windows in ergonomics, with the status bar in the bottom, the apps icons in the desktop and in the quick launch tray.

You can open, enlarge, and minimize windows, and open multiple windows and and drag and drop them with your mouse. Android has Microsoft Office apps, including Word, Excel, and Power Point. You can also type texts and work with tables and presentations. The Samsung S8 hardware can even launch the Photoshop Lightroom app where you can edit your photos. All these manipulations can be done via a keyboard and a mouse or a trackpad, while the phone screen is sleeping. Whenever you receive a call or a text comes through, you can answer it or text back. When you are finished using the DeX, you just pick the phone up from the cradle.

The Samsung S8 features the most powerful mobile CPU to date, the octa-core Snapdragon 835, with an average speed across the cores of 4.2GHz. The speed can be compared to that of the Intel 7th generation and the Adreno 540 GPU can support a large display. Of course, such intensive performance will lead to overheating, hence the cooling fan Samsung engineers built into the dock.

Naturally, those who have other Android phones might feel left behind. What will it take to turn their phones into PCs. Will the DeX work with other phone brands? While the last question has yet to be answered, the first issue might be resolved much sooner than expected.

The company, Jide, has been working on the Remix Singularity for a while. The OS has showed significant results on PCs, and is now ready to be used with Android mobiles. It requires no special equipment, just a dock with some sockets, but you’ll need to flash your phone. In other words, you’ll need to delete the Android OS and install the Remix Singularity. Here, however, Samsung beats the Remix with its both its hands tied, because with the Samsung S8, you need no extra moves. It works like a PC from the box. Of course, you’ll have to pay extra money for the DeX, but if your Android device bricks after the Remix installation, you’ll pay much more for the repair.

I predict, many Android phones manufacturers will add the PC mode feature to their skins. While Apple and Microsoft cell phones are parts of their corresponding ecosystems, Android gadgets lacked this feature entirely or until recently. Samsung made up its mind to improve this great injustice. Kudos, Samsung!

Source of the image: samsung-dex

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