Dell Mobile Connect brings your texts, calls, and apps to your PC

There are already a number of third-party apps and services that profess to help you keep up with what's going on on your phone while you're working on your PC. Microsoft even offers this to some extent by letting you reply to texts via Windows 10 notifications and Cortana. Dell, however, has come up with a solution for its own PCs that, if it all works as advertised, goes a little further.

Called Dell Mobile Connect, the software will surface phone calls, SMS messages, and app notifications from your phone, on your PC. You can even see notifications from third-party IM apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and more, letting you reply without having to shift your attention from your PC to your phone. Taking things a step further, Dell Mobile Connect also lets you use mirroring to control phone apps on your PC.

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Dell Mobile Connect 2

Dell Mobile Connect uses Bluetooth and WiFi direct, and Dell says you shouldn't miss any notifications so long as you stay within wireless range. And because your data moves directly between your phone and PC, without going through the internet or a router, it ostensibly remains secure.

It's a small addition, but it's one that can come in extremely handy if you get tired of shifting attention between several screens. Dell says that Mobile Connect will come factory installed on XPS, Alienware, Inspiron, and Vostro PCs starting this month. The service will work with both Android and iOS, but it's unclear if there are any limitations on either platform.