There have been a great number of rumours suggesting that Microsoft would take the wraps off the first official Windows 10 Mobile handsets this coming October. Those rumours turned out to be true (who’d have thought it!) and an official invite has just been released. The two phones in question, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, have been extensively leaked and it is fair to say that the reaction has been a little muted. Granted they are the high-end handsets that have been lacking for the last 18 months, but in a world dominated by ever improving and innovative Android devices, the two phones are decidedly ordinary. The release of the associated Continuum dock, which will allow the phones to be plugged into monitors, keyboards and mice, will no doubt help, but it cannot hide the fact that the phones themselves will hardly tempt people away from their existing handset.
That said, the launch event on 6 October is about much more than just those two phones. Also rumoured to be launched are the following:
- A smart cover and pen/stylus for the 950XL
- Two new Surface Pro 4 tablets, with 12″ and 14″ screen sizes
- The Continuum dock
- Microsoft Band 2
- Release of the Hololens VR headset
- Windows 10 on the Xbox One
- A significant update to Windows 10 OS
Details about these are scarce, particularly the second edition of Microsoft’s fitness tracker. The smart cover looks to be similar to those already available for LG and Samsung phones. The 950XL is thought to be stylus-ready, though it doesn’t seem to have an integral slot ala the Galaxy Note series. The new Surface Pro 4 has been long suspected, not least given that the Surface Pro 3 was released over a year ago. The two new versions should improve on resolution, keyboard dock etc.
In short, it’s going to be a packed event on 6 October. Microsoft needs the phones, in particular, to succeed if it is going to convince developers of the universal app idea, upon which Windows 10 is heavily reliant. We’ll being further details as soon as we have them.