Surface Phone Rumors - Here we go again
Here we go again.
Some MS watcher blogs have started posting articles regarding a new Surface device that they are referring to as Surface Phone or maybe Surface Note or Surface Journal.
This rumored device uses a foldable screen format for what is being described as a 3-in-1 device and will be ARM processor based. So not a traditional phone format - ergo the Note/Journal potential name.
According to the articles this new device will be driven by Windows 10 Core utilizing the Composable Shell (CShell) UI codenamed Andromeda. The articles refer to another source that states andromeda components are actually in the current RS4 17025 build.
The assumption here is that Windows 10 Core may be the market name for the Windows 10 on ARM effort that MS demo'd earlier this year and that I expect to be released at the end of the current Redstone 4 branch this March.
The article also goes on to state that some of these devices have actually been spotted on the MS campus in Redmond. Which in entirely possible considering there have been reports of 2 - 3 day battery life coming out of early ARM device testing.
MS went down this path before with a project called Courier several years ago. The story was that is was simply too expensive to produce at volume and the project was killed. There was also the Surface Mini which was MS's foray into the pure 8" tablet space that also never saw the light of day.
Windows Mobile / Phone enthusiasts have been calling for and rumoring about a Surface branded phone for years now. There was this hope that when MS purchased the Nokia Mobile Products division and started to develop their own devices that it would be a pretty natural extension to create a phone with the Surface brand vs the Nokia originated Lumia brand.
But as we all know MS's efforts in this space failed miserably in the market and earlier this month Joe Belfiore made a group of tweets the in effect killed the Windows 10 Mobile line.
Now sure this new device would run Windows Core vs Windows Mobile which in theory means you would have access to the entire Windows Store catalog of apps. And with CShell and Fluent Design would have the same look and feel as any Windows 10 device.
But as one writer put it "If Microsoft builds another Windows-powered mobile device, will anyone care?"
We do know that MS is working heavily on ARM based devices along with a number of partners. But in this writers opinion it's not the physical device that is of concern. Its the apps.
As Joe stated in his tweets killing off Windows Mobile, MS couldn't even pay ISVs to develop their apps for Windows Mobile. And to be honest they are having the same issue with Windows 10.
Other OEMs are also rumored to be working on foldable devices including Samsung and Huawei and have filed patents around some of the technologies used.
So while it is certainly possible that this device may see the light of day - it also may not. And even if it does will it sell ? Today the entire MS Surface line sells around 1M units / quarter. So in effect about 1/5 the size of Apple's Mac lines - so somewhere around 1.3 - 1.5% market share.
With multiple screens I expect this will be an expensive device - so $1,000+. And while folks seem willing to pay that for a flagship phone - I'm not sure they'll pay for this..
Anyway - here we go again - only time will tell if this is real or not..
Some MS watcher blogs have started posting articles regarding a new Surface device that they are referring to as Surface Phone or maybe Surface Note or Surface Journal.
This rumored device uses a foldable screen format for what is being described as a 3-in-1 device and will be ARM processor based. So not a traditional phone format - ergo the Note/Journal potential name.
According to the articles this new device will be driven by Windows 10 Core utilizing the Composable Shell (CShell) UI codenamed Andromeda. The articles refer to another source that states andromeda components are actually in the current RS4 17025 build.
The assumption here is that Windows 10 Core may be the market name for the Windows 10 on ARM effort that MS demo'd earlier this year and that I expect to be released at the end of the current Redstone 4 branch this March.
The article also goes on to state that some of these devices have actually been spotted on the MS campus in Redmond. Which in entirely possible considering there have been reports of 2 - 3 day battery life coming out of early ARM device testing.
MS went down this path before with a project called Courier several years ago. The story was that is was simply too expensive to produce at volume and the project was killed. There was also the Surface Mini which was MS's foray into the pure 8" tablet space that also never saw the light of day.
Windows Mobile / Phone enthusiasts have been calling for and rumoring about a Surface branded phone for years now. There was this hope that when MS purchased the Nokia Mobile Products division and started to develop their own devices that it would be a pretty natural extension to create a phone with the Surface brand vs the Nokia originated Lumia brand.
But as we all know MS's efforts in this space failed miserably in the market and earlier this month Joe Belfiore made a group of tweets the in effect killed the Windows 10 Mobile line.
Now sure this new device would run Windows Core vs Windows Mobile which in theory means you would have access to the entire Windows Store catalog of apps. And with CShell and Fluent Design would have the same look and feel as any Windows 10 device.
But as one writer put it "If Microsoft builds another Windows-powered mobile device, will anyone care?"
We do know that MS is working heavily on ARM based devices along with a number of partners. But in this writers opinion it's not the physical device that is of concern. Its the apps.
As Joe stated in his tweets killing off Windows Mobile, MS couldn't even pay ISVs to develop their apps for Windows Mobile. And to be honest they are having the same issue with Windows 10.
Other OEMs are also rumored to be working on foldable devices including Samsung and Huawei and have filed patents around some of the technologies used.
So while it is certainly possible that this device may see the light of day - it also may not. And even if it does will it sell ? Today the entire MS Surface line sells around 1M units / quarter. So in effect about 1/5 the size of Apple's Mac lines - so somewhere around 1.3 - 1.5% market share.
With multiple screens I expect this will be an expensive device - so $1,000+. And while folks seem willing to pay that for a flagship phone - I'm not sure they'll pay for this..
Anyway - here we go again - only time will tell if this is real or not..
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