Microsoft adds Continuum support for Windows 10 Mobile phones with Snapdragon 617

Wow, than my Lumia 735 is a pretty damn good LOW end device with its SD400!

yeh its just a shame the low end 650 looks like it got a awsome body and shell where as the 950 is just cheap plastic.  Big shame cause if the 950 had the 650 shell id defo buy one.

Just get a 950 and a Mozo cover. I have the cognac one and it turned the phone into a premium device.

WC mock-up renders that you're referring to likely look much better than the actual product. Wait for an official render of what it will actually look like.

How did you do this? " Posted via the Windows Central App for Android on my Lumia 950 XL "  Please explain.

Sideload

Considering that continuum was marketed as business feature, having the business phone of the portfolio lack it, makes total nadella sense.

What about my Lumia 925 Top range a year or so back!

No, it wasn't. It ran a chip that was high-end in 2012, but released with it a year late. It was never quite high-end because it started with year-old guts.

Well, my Lumia 920 doesn't even support USB OTG... Well... From the 3 points microsoft spoke of, the RAM is the only missing piece.

I'm not sure what you're referring to.

This is good to have! Now lets see if they will make a phone with mid range specs...

MS: - Uncancel the L850 - Make NuAns NEO available in Windows Store.

Please add one more thing to that list
- Make NuAns neo 'THIN'... It's a bulky phone with good spec..

and Make Lumia 650 run an SD617 and leave the 2xx series for Lumia 4xx and 5xx series (what's the point? The l650 is probably the last Lumia anyway :/ )

For the year

-Uncancel the 850
-Don't use an SD400 on 850

Wow that is awesome. Would be something cool for people that can't afford to dish out the cash for a high end phone but want this feature.

SO, will the Nokia ICON support it ? First !

I'm wondering the same thing

It isn't about the "range" of the chipset or "this device is high end, it shoudl support it". The ability to utilize Continuum for phones dependant on if the chipset is able to power two screens with different apps running on each screen along with the data bandwith/transfer speeds, processing power, power consumption and more hardware considerations than just the amount of GPU or CPU cores and GHz. Supporting Continuum isn't about simply raw GPU power as in "Hey, my device has a Snapdragon 800/801, it should support Continuum". The Snapdragon 800 may be missing key components and pieces of the puzzle that the newer, even the midrange chipsets have in some of those examples listed above. I'd like a Continuum Lite, to where the only interaction with the phone when displaying the second screen is to answer calls, send texts and use the trackpad. That way, phones with fairly powerful GPUs but may struggle in other areas can limit what can be done on the phone yet still display the desktop on a scond screen. Of course, this is easier said than done.  

Thats BS, and you all know it. Continuum is nothing more than an extended win10mobile, nothing more. ****, even my old first gen atom 1gb ram laptop 1024x600 runs win10!!! We all know its marketing, and its good, but please dont BS

You clearly don't have the least understanding of what's under the hood. Do yourself and others a favor and shut up.

Haha... Really bought you own press, didn't you? You have no understanding of what's "under the hood" either. 
Continuum has been achieved with good perfomance on lower end devices. Hell, we even have a Windows RT PoC on some crappy low end lumia. Please stop pretending to be above others in terms of knowledge when you clearly have no clue either. 

Try attaching your atom laptop to an external display (2 displays at the same time) and see the performance difference. You will find out why it is not being supported.

If that's all you think Continuum is then why doesn't IOS and Android have this feature?  I mean, they've been around for a while.

Motorolla Atrix supported it in 2011, it had a laptop dock, and a screen dock. It didn't sell a lot so no one else jumped on the bandwagon. Saying that, windows continuum looks a lot more useful and probably uses more resources.

None of the old phones support plugging into external screens... they lack video out. How would they be able to plug into a screen, then?

Mirracast

How do you know it's bs? Do you have knowledge? Explain yourself please Sir

You clearly have no understanding of how technology works, or at least the technology that goes into making Continuum work. Simply put, the Snapdragon 617 is a more advanced processor than the Snapdragon 800. It has comparable raw performance, while also being able to push two displays at once, having faster LTE performance, a more powerful GPU, etcetera. The list goes on. Just because the Snapdragon 800 has enough "raw power" to theoretically pull off Continuum, there is way more that goes into it than that. Just like there's more to a camera than megapixels.

SD 800 can run 2 displays at once. Just check it on Qulacomm's Website. I understand that these older devices might be lacking the display out hardware and they are based on USB 2.0. But according to me they can totally run it fine via Miracast/Wireless.

I am not going to enact the labour to explain how wrong you are, when I can simply point you towards the fact that the thing you just proclaimed to be impossible has been achieved.

How you doin' that? I have a 2800ghz Celeron 2GB ram and can't do anything else when a torrent is downloading. Also Chrome and Edge keep the cpu at 100% all the time, plus Edge can't handle more than 3 new tabs

That is a terrible joke of a statement. Having the raw power (which isn't proven) and having hardware features to support it aren't the same thing. That's like saying my PC could run XB1 games if I put in a Blu-Ray drive.

It can. At least if you use one of microsoft's internal development environemnts.

But, again, that was my point (and wa to be almsot 8 months late on that reply). Throwing in the Blu-Ray player doesn't magically give my PC XB1 support. It requires other, software-related changes to the system (and I don't even know that it would fit my scenario of popping in an XB1 disc and playing a game on PC; it would likely just run a game package of code).

No

With that processor? No. And I think you need a USB Type C right?

No, USB-C is only required for a lag-free experience with a higher frame rate and for fast charging. Lower frame rate connections via a wireless (Miracast) connection is also part of the specification and allows for more casual use of the feature without the added expense of a specialized display dock.

I think it needs more cores to run smoothly... As all the processors supported till now are 64-bit and octa-core or hexa-core. So im guessing any one of this is required.

Nope, ICON has a Qualcomm 800, not a 808, 810, or 617.

I heard a rumour that continuum is being tested for sd800 Lumias. Let's hope something happens soon.

I heard that same rumor over on the Windows Central comments by someone named "Pallav Chak..." Oops!

Lol

Welcome to the party

When in India

>:\

Hope it works flawlessly because if it doesn't, it will do more harm than good

That is great, they should give support to Lumia 930, ICON and 1520

+930

Last time I checked, the Snapdragon 800 did not magically become octa-core or get any other hardware upgrade via a software update.

downloadmorehardware.com ? :)

The 808 isn't octa-core either, and 4 of the cores in it are low-power ones.

Please be more pedantic, it turns me on!

Neither the 810 is true Octa Core. Only 4 cores run at a given time.

It has 8 cores, hence, octa-core by definition. How many cores are utilized at the same time does not matter to the definition, which is the only "true octa-core" applicable definition.

Definitely an upvote for 930!!

no USB-C on this Lumia's....

USB-C not needed, it's processor specific.

Lol if pb can do simple screen mirroring why not offer that to existing hardware seeing as the feature existed for ms internally for years

Wasn't that the ignored Lumia Beamer or whatever that was retired a couple of years back?

That app streamed the screen online and you could see it only via the Internet.

At best you would get the wireless version and it would lag badly on the SD800.

Would be cool so that my screwed up speaker mic's on the 930 can still be used as a docked mini PC somewhere :D

HTC one m8 should be able to run continuum....

That's not even getting 10

It's in the preview. It'll probably be getting 10.

8X is the one not getting 10

R u confusing M8 with 8x ;P

You're confusing 8x and M8

My One M8 runs the lastest official windows 10 mobile

I guess it needs Octa-core...

and USB-C, but octacore not necessary.. Lumia 950 not octacore ;)  

USB-C is not required, it works wirelessly

808 supports continuum and is hexa core

Maybe it needs minimum 6 cores...

It's not just about cores. There's a lot more to a processor than that.

Or a 64bit chip which these are and the 800-805 is not Posted via the Windows Central App for Android on my Lumia 950 XL

The OS is still 32-bit, so that doesn't make any difference.

Guessing some lower end devices in a year or two might be able to do Continuum?

Oh yes now I really won't switch from my Lumia 1520

800 is not in the list of supported processors....yet.

And never will be.

I tried Continuum this past weekend to watch a movie using the Movies & TV app and I was generally impressed. It handled 1080p like a champ. Now the only thing Microsoft needs to work on is 1) fixing sound on MKV, 2) adding subtitle support in Movies & TV (and/or in Continuum), and 3) adding rental support in the Continuum version of Movies & TV so I don't have to torrent a movie to see it.

I used it the first week of January for that same purpose. My only issue was that I skipped the conversion process at first, causing some movies to play without audio, but a resync with the conversion fixed that. I did also have one movie get bad audio/video sync using my Display Dock (also used my sister's Surface wireless adapter), but restarting it fixed that.

Finally some good news. So sick of seeing every phone with SD200/210/212/400/410 only when 6xx is the real midrange series.

This is amazing , using my Lumia 2520 with snapdragon 800 and it can do alot of things at once , I don't know why Lumia 930 doesn't support it ? Or it's about the Usb type C ?

There's way more to a processor than how much raw power it has. The Snapdragon 617 is a more advanced processor than the Snapdragon 800.

930 has SD800, which is not supported yet.

Nice, now announce some Lumia phones with it.

This ^

And screw the lumia 930 and 1520!! Screw that Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

What about Lumia 1520...which has snapdragon 800

It's not going to happen. Chipset is most likely too old.

+1520 please! Anyone who's smarter about this kind of stuff... Is there any hardware limitation on the 1520 that would prevent it from running continuum?

Yes! Theoretically it's possible in some way, shape, or form, but for all intents and purposes it's not going to happen. There's way more to a processor than its raw power and the Snapdragon 800 just doesn't cut it. I'm sure the Snapdragon 805 could pull it off. The Snapdragon 617 is simply a more advanced processor.

MS isn't going to reward you for holding on to an outdated device.

Would have been nice to have a L 850 w the snapdragon 617. But I guess that ain't happening.

Most Windows phones that are mid range have 1gb ram. This doesn't change anything

If only Microsoft made a mid tier phone with Snapdragon 617, 618 or 620 with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage.

Wen in anywhere but Japan? Want this phone.

Will support sd400???

Probably not :\

Those are bullsh$t limitations like Apple does. Just remember when they release FaceTime only for the new phones. This is similar to force people buy a new phone

I'm amazed at the ignorance in the comments section.

All you are doing is looking like a fool.

Hope is in the air! Coming soon to SD400 with 1 gig RAM.

Lumia with more than 1GB RAM and cpu 600 ???Really???It's most honestly to say 1 man with green eyes brown hair 1.93cm and a master at rocket science will take it...I know the hardware issues with lower specs as buggs and etc but ms you can try harder

LOL; stupid question - is that a case on that phone? I've never seen anything like that. It's kinda cool, actually. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

That's the actual phone. Look it up, it's kind of neat. You get to choose how it looks by choosing a bottom plate and a top plate. There's 64 combinations (8 bottom options, 8 top options).

That is the phone where you can mix and match the top and bottom of the phone. Windows Central has done a couple of articles on it.

i think Lumia 930 still being high end Lumia with 2gigs RAM and powerful quad core processor should support it, but it's just beginning of continuum and I believe MS would add support for 930 on next continuum update.

And you'd be wrong. The SD 800 is 3 years old, I believe.

For those of you complaining about the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 930 not supporting Continuum, please realize that there is a lot more to a processor than how much raw power it has. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 is a more advanced processor than the Snapdragon 800/801 in pretty much every way, and it's raw power is comparable. The Snapdragon 800/801 cannot push two displays at once for any number of reasons, while the Snapdragon 617 can. ​Look, it's not about USB Type-C, it's not about how many cores there are, it's not about how powerful the processor is. There's way more to it than that. It's as simple as saying the Snapdragon 210 is an upgrade over the Snapdragon 200, because it has LTE and can more easily push a 720p display, amongst other reasons. So, for those of you hoping that the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 930 will eventually get Continuum support, I wouldn't hold my breath. Maybe one day Microsoft will overcome the Snapdragon 800's limitations and release a severely restricted version of Continuum, but it's highly unlikely. This isn't some ploy to get you to buy a new phone. It's not an excuse, or bullcrap. It's the same reason the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 930 can't do iris scanning: because the hardware isn't there. It's the same reason the Lumia 930 can't do Glance Screen: because the hardware isn't there.    

^

https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/processors/comparison Look again closely from the oficial site of Snapdragon the supports of Display of each Snapdragon. SD800 :1080p and 4K external displays,Up to 2560x2048 display resolution and Miracast 1080p HD support SD617: Up to 1080p display on device. It is not SD617 ​better on Graphics etc.

"It is not SD617 ​better on Graphics etc." What does that even mean? Pushing pixels isn't the problem here. It's likely a CPU limitation, or a general OS/instruction set one from the SoC as a whole. It's not necessary a graphically intensive act, using Continuum, nor did he say that the GPU was the root cause.

@Zach You are spitting into the wind here. All the people complaining understand is that yesteryear's flagship phones aren't getting all of the new stuff. No matter how many times you explain that Continuum is not solely based on how powerful a chip is, they will still be upset because they aren't getting a new hardware-dependent feature for nothing.

If the Snapdragon 800 can't push two displays at once, then why does this one: https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co...
have an micro-HDMI port? Lumia 2520 uses the same processor as Icon/930 and 1520. Care to explain that one? If that tablet can have two desktops in 1080p and have several windows open (true multitasking), why can't the phones as well?

The 2520 doesn't run the same OS, it runs one that's built on a multi-tasking background, for starters. Beyond that, it can be a number of things. Without technical breakdowns of the technology, we just don't know all of the reasons. That said, I've not known a single person who hada 2520, so I don't know much about it. Is the micro-HDMI just a screen mirroring action? I'm guessing so. Pushes the same picture twice is quite different from pushing two different displays that are functionally similar, but visually and contextually very different.

You said it yourself now, it's a software limitation since Windows 8.1 RT can use the mHDMI port to extend the desktop and apps on two 1080p screens, just like the Surface RT/2 can do (ok those use tegras while 2520 uses S800, but can do the same stuff). So when people say that S800 isn't powerful enough then they haven't seen L2520 in action.

No, the smart people aren't saying power is the problem. That's what the mostly uninformed are guessing at. We who bothered thinking things through are saying there are archetectural limitations that aren't letting it happen. I made a lengthy post down a bit on what I think is the issue (the big.LITTLE architecture of the 617, 808, and 810 essentially is 2 CPUs). And again, as I've said, youre 2520/Surface example is VERY different. All those tablets do is mirror the display to another screen. It's maybe a little extra GPU load, but that's it. The W10M Continuum app has your phone running two OS environments as one. The main display is a desktop-style environment with certain compatibility requirements (being a W10 Universal app), while you're also powering the phone in its environment. You're also making these two function together, so you can use apps on both devices (like letting you send texts on the big display or the phone). Functionally, the 8.1 screen mirroring is just not the same thing. It's a much easier/traditional task that the older hardware could easily handle. Continuum's limitations are a core hardware one, not a software tweak that would make the older CPUs behave in a vastly different way.

Again, the specs of Snapdragon 800 list it being able to run two different screens. The processor *is* powerful enough to run two apps at once. The apps running on the second screen just go into desktop mode which is not a any more CPU-intensive than the phone version. That is all what Continuum does in additional to rendering a second display, two apps running at the same time. There is no hardware restriction here.

No, displaying one screen twice is NOT the same as displaying two different OS environments at once. They're running two environments at once. You can make whatever information-lacking assumption you want and present it as fact, but I'm still not going to listen to it. "Powerful enough" is neither proven, nor the point. The point is the architecture of the SoC that is likely the limitation. It's hardware that's hindering it, almost certainly. What you're describing is like a photo copier. It takes an image and copies it. That's not what Continuum is.

The Lumia 2520 does not mirror the screen, it extends the desktop and you can run apps on the other screen as well. My Surface RT (running Tegra 3 which is lower powered than S800) can also do this, here's proof:
http://imgur.com/a/7MKty Also "Let’s not forget that micro HDMI is onboard as well. It works perfectly, offering extended desktop and mirroring options right out of the box. Pure 1080p video at 60Hz is pushed out along with audio." - http://surfacegeeks.net/nokia-lumia-2520.html
All this with the power of Snapdragon 800.

So it's mirroring and dual-display. IT's still running a single environment, which is STILL NOT WHAT CONTINUUM DOES. Continuum runs two DIFFERENT environments at once, using a single pool of resources. "The most powerful use model of big.LITTLE is heterogeneous multi-processing (MP), which enables the use of all physical cores at the same time. Threads with high priority or computational intensity can in this case be allocated to the "big" cores while threads with less priority or less computational intensity, such as background tasks, can be performed by the "LITTLE" cores." It's two CPUs being handed different tasks. Continuum, by the explanations of the technology, only works because the supported SoCs are actually dual-CPU machines. One environment uses the "big" cores (the high-power, Cortex-A57 ones), while the other uses the "LITTLE" (the low-power, Cortex-A53 ones). Screen mirroring and dual-display are still a single environment with an added set of visuals. This is not what Continuum is. It has SOME traits that are similar to it (like having apps work across both screens on Continuum), but they are not the same environment. If I start up a movie on my 950, I can't drag and drop it onto a larger display with Continuum, like with an extended desktop. I have to tell the Display Dock/phone to fire up the desktop-style Movies & TV app on the TV.

Then why can't continuum do the same as what Windows 8.1 RT does (or any desktop windows for that matter)? The tablet can now show the start screen and open apps normally (like the phone in the Continuum scenario), while the second screen is displaying something completely different. No need for the desktop actually, can still use different apps on different screens (and also split the screen for multitasking Win8 style).
If Windows RT can do all this with a Snapdragon 800, but Win10m cannot, then my guess is it's an issue of software.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but I'll TRY to answer you. If you're asking what I think you are, W10M sort-of can. You can open apps in Continuum on the main display and still use others on the phone. I was talking to people with IM+ (a non-Universal app) and texting my sister (using the Universal Messaging app) on my phone while watching the first 6 Star Wars movies with the Universal Movies & TV app on my sister's TV (I was house-/pet-sitting for her and her husband for a week). However, if you open a Universal app on one display, then want it on the other, it takes a moment ot transition to the other version's app. I tested this with the Movies & TV app, and it had a slight transition as it moved the movie from my phone to the TV.

Why can't 1520 and 930 get continuum then?

Lol

It's Nokias fault...

Sorry ZB, I just had to post that after your post.

Probably won't come to phones with a SD S4 doc even though it's good, why? Well it's known about Lumia's with that Soc that they overheat like crazy, time to see how can we install an ultra mini cooling fan inside my L1320, I need to find such a thing first

Why does the resolution of phone matters for continuum?

650? 850?

No, I have to be at work at 830 tomorrow.

That sucks, I'm not in until 10 AM.

Pants

Lumia 930 support?

What about icon L930...

As per spec on qualcomm, Snapdragon 800 supports external display upto 4K. So it should support Continuum. May be Nokia made these phone 1520, 930 and Icon like the way that Microosoft can't enable continuunm on old phone. Just like Quick Charge, some proc supports its but OEM not enable this feature like OnePlus Two.        

Damn, just missed out with the 830

Not even. The 830 runs a budget-class **** of a chip. The device was a scam from the start, as its chip was basically on-par with that of the 820 from a couple of years prior. It was drummed up as an "affordable flagship," but it was just a solid camera and a sliver of metal surrounding a bunch of low- and mid-range parts. AT BEST, it was a mid-range device.

Does this mean the 1520 will finally get continuum? Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

If these phones can do it, then why can't the 1520, 930, HTC One M8 and other high spec wps do this?

They are different at the hardware level. Remember that these chips have two processors built into them. That's what big.LITTLE is, a pairing of two CPUs.

No.  That's really NOT what big.LITTLE is.  You should get a refund on your EE degree.  Oh yea... right... you only have a CS degree.  All good then.

Swizz I'd be happy with just using a mhl adapter for TV out like every other android on the market supporting the same processor. I don't need 2 screens and no I don't want the Microsoft mirrocrap doggle the day continum came out I knew there be otg mhl it's a money grab to get you to buy new phones plain and simple. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

If your TV has Miracast, you can mirror your screen already with plenty of Lumias with SD400 and up. Or, you can use DLNA with the Lumia Play To app for old x2x Lumias.

MS will not allow it, because they want you to buy 950 and 950XL. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Next, Snapdragon 400 Series/S4 Series could be next in Continuum lineup!
P.s : Who knows they might be? :3

Bloody hell reading through the comments section has become a real laborious process. People constantly spamming the same sodding question without reading or responding to what has already been written. Its like walking into a kindergarten where all the kids are yelling at the same time because they all demand to be the centre of attention.

I think you hit the nail on the head, kids.

It's not even that they're repeating themselves that annoys me. It's their embodiment of the stupidity of society today. Almost none of those complaining actually know much about the hardware behind their screens, yet they run their mouths like they are experts. As someone who actually has a CS degree and works in IT, believe me, I experience this stuff professionally and personally all the time. People like to do one of two things, when it comes to technology: 1. Stumble around blindly, screw things up royally, then ask for help when things are on the verge of catching fire. 2. Ask for your help and expertise, then use their naivety to tell you how they're going to ignore you and do what they want.

I love the blow hards here professing their technical knowledge about how continuum could never run on lesser or older hardware....news flash, it requires windows 10 and none of the phones argued over officially have it yet. Lets save the ******* contest until that's resolved.

No, let's not. Let's actually use our brains, understand technology, and go from there. I'm not saying it won't happen for any reason other than Microsoft's said it, I trust their understanding of their tech more than random Internet comments, and the basic logic behind it suggests it'll be tough to pull off, if not impossible. Wasting time for future resources to cater to the old tech just hurts everyone in the end. The people upgrading get less for their money, and the people in the past complain things aren't running perfectly on their 5-year-old hardware.

And what do you guys say on the fact my old Symbian phone was able to connect to a big screen, use BT keyboard AND mouse?! And you know what?! It had full, real multitasking!! When I came back from startscreen to Messenger, there was No. Damn. Reconnecting!!! I love Windows and wish the best, but as well I hate lies!! So wake up finally!!

Wait... Ain't the good ol Lumia 920 care able of doing that since the Windows 10 preview came out? If its only "mirroring" the display that is... Continuum is much more than that.

Hejt, the mini HDMI connector of the older Nokia Symbian^3 high-ends was only used for mirroring the phone's display to a TV screen, not to produce a PC-like environment which Symbian did not have.
Also that's not even how Continuum basically work and Symbian^3 had even more limitations than Windows 10 Mobile on old Lumia phones when the upgrade's released.

Mirroring a display isn't the same as running the OS twice. Maybe you shouldn't puff out your chest and claim intellectual superiority about things you don't actually understand.

Also keep that "I don't know how Symbian^3's HDMI works" comment to yourself Keith! I used a Nokia N8 before so I knew how its mini HDMI works. Also what the Nokia N8 did with that connector was just to mirror the phone's screen, nothing else! Compare that to Continuum and it doesn't work like that. Next time if you didn't use a Nokia Symbian^3 phone before and put these kind of insulting comments, at least get a second-hand N8, connect to a TV via HDMI if it has phone to TV cable l, then use your maybe Lumia 950 with the Dock Connector in Continuum mode you'll see how different the way these two connections work. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

My comment wasn't a reply to yours, and if you had bothered to read the context of it without getting so uppity, you probably would have figured that out before spewing that rude comment at someone who wasn't even talking to you.

Sorry if it's so, but if your comment was for Hejt, then please put that user's name at the start of the comment or else I would think that reply is aimed at me. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android

Rumor has it that Symbian is better than iPhone an android put together. We should all go back to the vastly superior Symbian, which *totally* didn't auger in with the last release, Belle.

I can think of any number of reasons this could be hindered. It could be the OS, meaning going to W10M allows it on older hardware. I don't believe this to be the real issuem, but it's possible. It could be that the standard from the past, microUSB, can't push data fast enough for Continuum, and making some clunky, half-working Continuum for old harware that only functions via Miracast could give the tech a bad rep and confuse consumers who don't know what is what (read: most of the people complaining here). It could be that they just don't want to dedicate resources to cater to people who aren't financially supporting the platform by sticking with old hardware, instead using those talents to get Redstone and the Surface Phone to the best places they can. All of that aside, I think that the answer is the CPU. That's my best guess. The 3 supported chips (617, 808, 810) are reasonbly strong and modern chips. They're the only ones I can seem to find that support the big.LITTLE architecture that allows cores to function like 2 CPUs. Just at a glance, it seems the 615 MIGHT be capable of it as well (basically, I'd look at anything with at least 6 Cortex-A53 or A57 cores), but nothing seems to be definitive, and nothing Windows runs those chips anyway. My thought is that the architecture allows the 2 CPUs (the big and LITTLE core set) to run simultaneously for Continuum, with each set of cores powering one of the environments (I'd assume big handles the large display and LITTLE handles the phone). What makes me lean towards this is that the 800, 801, and 805 aren't looking like options for support. If I'm right, then the problem wouldbe that while those chips have 4 fairly strong cores, they don't have the architecture of big.LITTLE to split up tasks across devices (big display and the phone). I might be 100% wrong, this isn't my area of expertise, but this is the most logical explanation I can think of.

Keith, It's funny that you will tell everyone else why they are wrong and stupid regarding the feasibility of Continuum on the SD800.  But it's plainly obvious to everyone that you don't really have a clue either.  And many times you admit to being "guessing".  Good for you on that.  But really you should stop telling everyone how stupid they are.  It's really unattractive coming from someone who clearly is guessing just as much as everyone else. BTW, you're almost certainly 100% wrong about the big.LITTLE architecture having anything to do with this limitation.  It's good that you acknowledge that you could be 100% wrong on this point.  You are. Based on everything that I know, it's quite likely that a reasonably compelling Continuum-ish experience could be supported using Miracast on the SD800.  Microsoft has decided that it's not compelling enough and/or that there's not a good enough business case to make it happen.  That's fine.  They're trying to run a business and businesses can't always make everyone happy. Just don't keep insisting that this is technically impossible while you yourself admit that it likely is possible and that this is the result of a decision on Microsoft's part to not support the older phones. Yes, it almost certainly wouldn't run as well as it does on the newer SDs, and possibly some features of the Continuum vision cannot be made to work on the older phones.  But those are decisions. I hope that you don't do this in every comment thread here.  THAT could get really annoying.  I'm sure that you occasionally make valuable contributions to the community, though.

https://versus.com/en/qualcomm-snapdragon-617-vs-qualcomm-snapdragon-800

I think the bottom line is MS wants to sell new phones. If you have a 1520 there are plenty of reasons to love your phone and it's slick design and giant screen. If I need to work on the go I just use a Surface, the Continuum yes or no is not end all be all. If I go on a business trip I'm not dragging a monitor along anyway.

The idea isn't that you're taking a monitor with you. You can plug the Display Dock into a hotel TV. You could plug it into a projector at a meeting. It can go into a monitor at work. It can plug into anything that's HDMI-compatible. It's a potentially powerful IT tool, if you work in that field. We take a projector and a Surface Pro 3 to board meetings, to display content. That could be replaced with a phone and Display Dock (or wireless adatper). I have 2 monitors at work, but I don't need both, so I could plug my phone into the extra. I went to my sister's, and rather than taking movies in boxes over there, I put digital ones on my phone and connected my 950 to her TV to watch them. Never was the suggested solution that you bring a display with you. It's that wherever an HDMI-compatible display exists, your phone can connect to that display.

I think the point is that you'll go on a business trip and use the tv in your hotel room as your display

I know conventional wisdom says the 650 will be the last Lumia of the year but I'm not buying that. Either this opens the door for a high mid ramge phone or they (Microsoft) are lying about the chip on the 650. Cant imagine the new business model not sporting continuum. So something doesn't fit.

"Last Lumia" doesn't mean it's the last phone. The idea is that Surface could replace Lumia as a phone brand, and Microsoft has little incentive to go with a 960 late-2016. Their hardware matches up poorly with SoC releases right now, so they could put a 960 on the market in the spring of 2017, and get in-line with the release of Qualcomm's 820 successor, rather than following the current trend of following the iPhone and being 6 months behind the OEMs releasing the same hardware on Android.

Judging from the past surface models the phone isn't bound to come by cheap. We need a decent mid range phone that supports continuum

That's what is going to run the 617 in Japan. That's what the 950/950 XL will be come the fall (when its hardware is essentially 18 months old). The Surface Phone also might come in a few variants, like an Atom x3 and an Atom x5 for low- and mid-range. They could just turn the whole brand into Surface, and even make an ARM-based device (with maybe a SD 625), though I think that would confuse the consumers to no end.

Flagship lacks premium housing so it makes sense that business phone lacks business features and low end phone lacks affordability.

I agree. Either 650 will be a new entry level phone with a 'business phone' yet to come or 650 will have a S6xx chipset with continuum support for it to be called a business phone. Continuum is ONLY helpful in business scenario. Things just dont add up otherwise.

Too bad there is no Lumia phone with those specs.

this is one thing that MS must understand and accept: A S2xx/4xx device with 1GB RAM and 8 GB memory is strictly entry level device and not mid range. If they are to call 650 a mid-range devie it has to have a s6xx chipset with 2Gb RAM and 16 GB storage like the NuAns phone.  From this point on (till 2016 end only) the definition of mid-range device must be that they support continuum. Everything that cannot will be treated as an entry level device and should be price accordingly (read below $200) to succeed.

Still my Lumia 830 is not supported :_(

SD400 Is low end??? But i think lumia 830 is mid range flagship device according to MSFT.

That NuAns phone needs some fit and finish improvements but it keeps getting more and more attractive everyday. Is that ostrich and lizard? Wow. I think they really need to do a full blown top-of-the-line flagship with no stops on specs, quality and materials.

LOL, my midranger 830 will never have it then, only 1gb of memory..what a joke. MS sucks. They fired to much people, win10 mobile will be dead soon with such politic.

Considering this piece of news, an 850 with this chipset would make a Hell of a lot of sense for developing nations such as India. Sigh... MS

Here i am still using my L1320.. About time to upgrade :-(

A continuum supported lumia 1020 successor will be awesome.

I also fell for the 830 scam

For them 830 is a low end phone, mother fxcker

Wow!

Lots of stupidity in the comments.

ahh. so fingers crossed for mine 640lte to be supported in year time

Yes, I waiting for snapdragron 617 powered superlook & strong lumia device.