McLaren is something of a legend in the Windows Phone ecosystem. Beginning development in 2013 and cancelled in July 2014 four months before launch, the phone would have been Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.1 flagship to last it until Windows 10 Mobile. In the years since it was dropped from the plans, much of McLaren’s innovative projected display tech has been revealed through leaks.
Today, the phone was outed in full for the first time. Uncovered by Windows Central reporters Daniel Rubino and Zac Bowden and MrMobile Michael Fisher, formerly of Pocketnow, McLaren has been given a full review. The tech journalists managed to access a near-final prototype version of the handset, allowing them to fully expose what could have been.
Ignoring the display for the moment, McLaren was designed as the successor for the famed Nokia Lumia 1020. It had a 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage and a 20MP PureView rear camera. It would have run Windows Phone 8.1 Update 1.
On the surface, it’s a pretty ordinary device with specifications typical of its time. The Nokia Lumia 930, launched in the month McLaren was killed, used the same internals, as did the Lumia 1520 before it. McLaren had something else to offer though, its unique 5.5-inch 1080p display.
Developed by Nokia in its research labs, the display sported “Projected-Capacitive Touch Technology.” This would have allowed the user to interact with the phone by hovering a finger above it, creating an interface and interaction model unlike any other device.
Hovering a finger above one of Windows Phone’s Live Tiles would cause the tile to “explode” into a selection of smaller tiles. On the prototype phone obtained by Windows Central, only Internet Explorer and the Phone app had this functionality implemented.
In the case of Phone, you could hover over the tile to obtain quick access to key contacts to call. For Internet Explorer, you could quickly access your favourite sites. The idea was to allow developers to put more information on the Start screen without creating a cluttered interface.
McLaren could do more than exploding Live Tiles though. It also had support for gestures, again drawn in the air above the phone. The display could track multiple fingers and even detect when it was being held. Gripping the handset would automatically enable rotation lock. Calls could be answered by waving your hand over the device.
According to Rubino, the features work well but aren’t necessarily as unique as Nokia had planned: “I have to admit, many of these features, while not revolutionary, are an excellent evolution of the touch interaction model for modern smartphones. Things like keeping the display on while holding the phone were later replicated by Samsung and others using the front-facing camera, but the tech here is used for much more.”
With such innovative technology underneath, Microsoft’s cancellation of the phone after it acquired Nokia’s devices division may appear unwarranted. McLaren’s tech reportedly failed to resonate with early users though. In testing with beta customers and developers, the ‘3D Touch’ system repeatedly confused users who didn’t understand the concepts. McLaren was too ahead of its time.
With Windows Phone struggling to gain momentum, Microsoft couldn’t afford to launch something as niche as McLaren could prove to be. The phone was also bulky and cumbersome with a large camera bump. To make matters worse, the sensor was only 20MP, instead of the famous 41MP camera of the 1020.
There are also indications that the technology just wasn’t ready. Rubino, Bowden and Fisher said that bugs were present even in this advanced prototype. “I attest that this prototype is very buggy, and you would not want to use it for daily use,” Rubino wrote. Bowden was even more critical, writing “I couldn’t use it as a daily driver for too long without it impacting my productivity.” With the launch window looming, Microsoft may not have had time to get McLaren into a state ready for the public.
McLaren has never made an official appearance, despite its existence being widely known before today’s report. Many Windows Phone fans would still like Microsoft to implement its technology on a new phone, holding the “Lumia 1030” as an example of what could have been for Windows Phone.
McLaren would have been the Windows Phone flagship for late 2014 into the fall of 2015. When developing a flagship, there usually is no alternative option. With McLaren cancelled, Microsoft was left without a high-end modern smartphone.
In the end, the Lumia 930, launched in July 2014, and the Lumia 1520 of November 2013 had to carry the Windows Phone brand until October 2015. Then, Microsoft finally unveiled the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, handsets that should have superseded McLaren.
Neither device has managed to revive the falling Windows Phone ecosystem and have been criticised by some fans for being too mundane. Perhaps by bringing back McLaren Microsoft could finally distinguish itself from the crowd.
