You never know quite what you’re going to see at IFA, a huge trade show dedicated to consumer tech and household appliances. In the maelstrom of events happening on day one, we stumbled upon this surprise: a neat demo of a Lenovo ThinkPhone running Windows 365 Cloud PC.
The idea behind Windows 365 Cloud PC is straightforward. You have an instance of Windows (either Windows 10 or 11) that you can access from any device. This makes it easier for an IT team to manage, whether that’s setting it up or removing instances for people who leave the business.
Each cloud PC includes two virtual CPUs, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of “local” storage. So, this is aimed at people who use Microsoft Office rather than 3D content creators.
Demonstration of Lenovo ThinkPhone running Windows 365 Cloud PC
What struck us with the ThinkPhone demonstration below — our thanks to Sudhir Chadaga, Chief Strategy Officer at Motorola Mobility — was its simplicity. If we were travelling, all we need to bring is a phone and the optional dock and we can access our Windows 365 Cloud PC anywhere.
Well, anywhere there is also a USB-C display, keyboard and mouse — but that brings remote working spaces into play, for instance. And it’s now easy to buy a mobile keyboard (Lenovo sells its own for the ThinkPad range, shown in the video) and a portable monitor.
Sudhir Chadaga, Chief Strategy Officer at Motorola Mobility, demos the ThinkPhone at IFA
Perhaps more to the point, many offices are shifting to this structure. Modern hot desks include a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Simply add a docking station to complete the set. So, rather than bringing a laptop into the office, with all the security risks and costs that are involved, employees only need to carry their phones.
It’s all very neat and simplifies life for everyone. Employee, employer and office manager alike.
Tim has worked in IT publishing since the days when all PCs were beige, and is editor-in-chief of the UK's PC Pro magazine. He has been writing about hardware for TechFinitive since 2023.
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.