Windows 10 on ARM
Image Courtesy: Microsoft.com

Today, Qualcomm announced a new list of the carriers who will join Verizon and Sprint to support Windows 10 on ARM PCs in the country. The chipmaker has also announced a list of retailers who will sell the Always Connected Windows 10 PCs at their online stores. The stores including Amazon will start shipping the devices in select countries in the first half of 2018.

Qualcomm and Microsoft today announced that leading retailers from across the world will be selling the Always Connected Windows 10 PCs with the eSIM technology supported by the mobile operators. In the coming months, Qualcomm and Microsoft plan to sell these devices at the following stores:

  • U.S.A – Amazon, Microsoft Stores
  • U.K. – Asus Stores, BT Shop, John Lewis, Microsoft Stores, PC World
  • China – JD.com
  • Australia – Microsoft Stores
  • France – Boulanger, Fnac
  • Italy – Unieuro

“Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies have worked closely with leading PC manufacturers to push the boundaries of what a Windows PC can do and how it performs, while still offering the features and innovative experiences that Windows 10 users expect,” said Matt Barlow, Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President of Windows and Devices.

Microsoft’s partnership with leading retailers will help the software giant around the world while selling the Always Connected PC, this could also help the Windows 10 on ARM project to succeed this year. Windows 10 on ARM has many limitations, but it wouldn’t be such a big deal for most of the consumers, one of such limitations is lack of support for x86 drivers and legacy 64-bit apps.

Last year a report claimed that these Always Connected PCs powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor won’t support features available on mobile devices, as Qualcomm has optimized the chipset for the PCs. One of the features missing from Always Connected PCs is Wireless Charging, though this decision makes sense as Wireless Charging would be only useful for the devices with proper hardware, and this technology is not ready for PCs.

Unfortunately, NFC support is also missing, and it’s not included in the official documentation. Despite all these limitations, Always Connected PCs will deliver impressive performance, and chipset has been optimized for long battery life, it can achieve one week of battery life per charge.

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is Windows Latest's owner, Editor-in-Chief and entrepreneur. Mayank has been in tech journalism for over seven years and has written on various topics, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.