Windows 10 for phone support for mouse and keyboard demoed in emulator video

If you want to work on, say, an Office document on Windows 10 for phone but don't want to use the touch interface, there is hope for another way. A newly released video shows how a device with the OS could be used when connecting a mouse and keyboard.

The video, as posted by McAkins Online, shows how this support works with the build 10069 Windows 10 for phone emulator that's found in the latest Visual Studio Tools release. The build was loaded directly in Hyper-V, which doesn't support touchscreen.

The video shows that when a mouse is connected with this emulator build, a mouse pointer icon appears on the screen. It also shows how scroll bars show up inside universal apps when using a mouse, along with tooltips when the cursor hovers over items. Keyboard shortcuts can be used as well, such as using the arrow keys to scroll up and down pages and the ESC key for going back a page.

Since this demo is based on its use by an emulator for an unreleased Window 10 for phone build, we can't say for certain if Microsoft will change anything for the final release.

Already in Windows Phone 8.1 Update 2, users can connect a Bluetooth keyboard to their phone for typing. We demonstrated this ability on the Lumia 640 and for Windows 10 devices, such an option will be standard.

Finally, as Microsoft has announced Continuum for phone, the ability to use a mouse and keyboard will be necessary for such a situation.

Source: McAkins Online

John Callaham