Continuum not coming to all Windows 10 phones?

Microsoft’s cool new Windows 10 feature, Continuum, which promises to turn Lumia smartphones into virtual desktops, may not work on every device running the software – or so suggests the latest Microsoft leak.

Continuum – which will let users plug their phone into a monitor and pair a keyboard and mouse for (almost) full desktop functionality – could be limited to the company’s new top-tier flagship handset, the Cityman.

The Cityman hasn’t launched yet, but it’s rumoured to feature a 5.7-inch Quad HD display, Qualcomm octa-core processor (possibly the Snapdragon 810), 3GB RAM and 32GB of on-board storage, as well as a microSD slot.

Microsoft’s also set to launch another flagship smartphone, the Talkman, which will reportedly pack a slimmed-down hexa-core Qualcomm chip (most likely a Snapdragon 808), 3GB RAM and the same 20-megapixel camera as its bigger, business-oriented brother.

However, when these two new Lumia phones leaked, the rumours also suggested that only the Cityman would support Continuum, leaving Talkman without the virtual desktop. And if that’s the case, we also wonder how many existing Lumia phones will support Microsoft’s Continuum feature.

Of course, it stands to reason that Microsoft is going to want to keep game-changing features as exclusives for its top-end hardware, but it’s rather a disappointment that the feature’s looking less likely for high-end non-enterprise devices. There are, after all, plenty of students, bloggers and other users who would relish the chance to use their Lumia phone as a laptop replacement in a pinch, without the extra cash required to rock a top-of-the-line handset.

With any luck, the omission is just down to hardware incompatibility (or simply an inaccurate leak) and we’re going to see Continuum on more consumer-friendly devices in the future.

Windows 10 is expected to drop in the summer and when it does we’ll likely get a much closer look at both the Cityman and Talkman as well as Continuum. Until then, here’s when you can expect your phone to get a Windows 10 update.