The Galaxy S8s DeX dock turns the phone into a portable workstation

If Micosoft was betting on Continuum as a defibrillator for its dying Windows 10 Mobile platform, it might be too late. It seems Samsung has just pulled the plug on the comatose mobile OS by releasing DeX – essentially the same as Continuum, but better (at least judging by a bunch of Twitter comments).

DeX was announced yesterday, during Samsung's Unpacked event. It is a docking station that basically transforms the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone into a fully-blown PC.

Plug the smartphone into Dex, and all you need is a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. The device turns landscape, has full support for the keyboard and the mouse, and allows users to quickly and easily move between apps, edito documents, browse the web, watch videos, all the usual jazz.

It's also interesting to hear that Samsung was actually collaborating with Microsoft on this, despite the fact that this is a direct competitor to the upcoming Continuum. Microsoft Office is fully compatible.

Dex is sold separately, and comes with a USB-C port, HDMI, Ethernet, and USB 2.0. Price is still not available, but there have been rumours saying it might cost around £130.

“The smartphone has become the central point for the modern mobile professional, and when giving a presentation or editing documents remotely, it means they can work effectively using just their smartphone. We developed Samsung DeX with the highly mobile worker in mind, giving them a convenient and flexible desktop experience,” said Injong Rhee, CTO of the Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.

“Our collaboration with key partners such as Adobe and Microsoft was essential in the development of Samsung DeX, as they share our vision for building excellence in mobile productivity. With Samsung DeX, enterprise users can also be assured their smartphone and data is protected by the Samsung Knox security platform built into the smartphone. Samsung DeX redefines what a smartphone can do to keep mobile workers productive.”