Being a Windows 10 devices event, everyone knew some new smartphones from Microsoft were on the way - the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL were both unceremoniously leaked a few weeks before last night's event. As a result, Microsoft did not harp too long on the both the smartphone and phablet's specs, which the leak got it right for the most part.

Spoiler alert

The important points are as follows. The Lumia 950 has a 5.2" WQHD display (2560x1440) up front. Delving a little deeper, it's running a hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor, clocked at 1.8 GHz, and supported by 3 GB of RAM. On the back, users will find a 20 MP camera, which has been given a range of OIS tools to assist in producing solid pictures.

Moving on to the new phablet, the 5.7" (2560x1440) Lumia 950 XL. It ups the processor specs by utilising a 2.0 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 810 chipset, with the same 3 GB of RAM as its smaller brother.

The Lumia 950.

Phone to Desktop

Both devices look up to snuff as far as specs go, but that was not Microsoft's focus last night. Instead, the company showcased the high productivity value that it hopes Microsoft Continuum will bring. Continuum creates a smartphone-powered version of Windows 10, for users to work with content from their mobile device on a desktop PC more efficiently. This is facilitated by the USB-C port found on each device, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL can be hooked up to one's desktop PC and used in the same manner as Windows 10.

In fact, during the demo given last night, the Continuum-enabled smartphones UI looked exactly like the one found on the desktop version, courtesy of Microsoft's hard work on making its apps highly scalable. This ability is heavily contingent upon Microsoft's universal apps, most of which at the moment remain confined to the Office 2016 suite of offerings.

The Lumia 950 XL.

Big potential

The potential as a productivity driven solution was clearly there to see however, and by the end of the year, there should be more clarity on how Microsoft aims to further develop Continuum.

When it comes to local release, no confirmed date has been named yet, but our educated guess would be before the year's end. As far as pricing goes, the Lumia 950 and 950 XL will retail for a $550 (R7 440) and $650 (R8 790) respectively in the States.