Microsoft have outlined their vision for a single ecosystem of Windows, the vision will include phones and PCs and was outlined by Microsoft's president of the Windows Phone Division, Andy Lees who spoke at a keynote address during Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Lees explains that there are key trends that are fundamentally changing the world of devices and form factors.
Lees, talking about Microsoft's first Windows 8 demo at CES said:
It starts right at the core of the devices themselves, the core technology. You can put all of the key things required to run a computer into a single chip." The system-on-a-chip transformation will assist in the form factors of PCs explained Lees.
Other advantages of SoC architectures is that the "price comes down dramatically" said Lees. "A year ago all smartphones cost over $400 when they left their hardware manufacturer." Lees also revealed that the cost has dropped to around $200 and by next year, Windows Phone 7-capable phones will be down to a very tidy $100-$150 mark. Lees then discussed Microsoft's vision of a single ecosystem:
We won't have an ecosystem for PCs and an ecosystem for phones, one for tablets. They'll all come together. It's not that this is about replacing the PC, and that's why our strategy is that these new form factors are within a single ecosystem and not new ecosystems themselves.