Microsoft 'Munchkin' Windows Mobile dock leaked

September 3, 2015 | 11:55

Tags: #continuum #convergence #windows-10 #windows-mobile #windows-mobile-10 #windows-phone

Companies: #microsoft

Details of a mobile docking station, codenamed Munchkin, designed to convert Microsoft's next-generation Windows Mobile 10 devices into fully-fledged PCs have leaked ahead of an official announcement from the company.

Convergence was a major watch-word for Microsoft's Windows 10 launch. To hear the company tell it, the release of its latest operating system would blur the lines between portable devices and traditional desktops. It would do this with a variety of technologies, chief among them apps running on the Universal Windows Platform and mobile devices which could seamlessly switch between small- and large-screen experiences when connected to external display devices.

The latter feature will require some additional hardware to truly come alive, however, and a leak has indicated just what Microsoft's plan is on that front. According to details from an unnamed source reported by Thurrot.com, Microsoft is to launch a mobile docking station dubbed Munchkin. Designed primarily for use with the upcoming Cityman and Talkman Windows Mobile 10 smartphones, the Munchkin connects to the micro-USB port and provides connectivity to HDMI and/or DisplayPort external monitors along with three USB peripherals, while also providing the ability to charge the phone even as you work.

Microsoft isn't the only company investigating ways to combine the world of mobile and traditional computing, of course: a major feature of the Ubuntu Edge vapourware smartphone design was the ability to use it as a desktop-class device when connected to external displays, and Motorola famously released the LapDock accessory for its mobiles which converted them into laptop-class devices.

Microsoft has neither confirmed nor denied the leak, with the site's unnamed source pointing towards an October annoucement for the Munchkin.
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