Microsoft is anything but out of the mobile phone business, in spite of rumors and assumptions derived from its disassociation from Nokia, and the handoff of Lumia mobile phone division.
This hardly comes as a surprise, considering that the Lumia brand never quite fit within the Microsoft Surface array of products. In fact, empirical evidence from Lumia’s track record, suggests that the heft of Microsoft’s investment in manufacturing Lumia devices, was never into the creation of a competitive line of smartphones, but rather an exercise in understanding the nature of the smartphone business, which has been on Microsoft’s back-burner since 2014.
Even prior to the news of Microsoft parting ways with its Lumia division, rumors circulated in regard to a mysterious device, believed to be a smartphone device built by Microsoft, with a much stronger connection to the Surface family of devices.
The Surface Phone has been the object of speculation, with a slow but consistent stream of rumors and image leaks, dating back to 2014.
Finally, the device has made a semi-official appearance, in the form of leaked photo-op promotional images, from Chinese social networking website Weibo.
The images portray the new device, with a design unmistakably inspired by Microsoft Surface Pro tablets, featuring the tapered bevel, a miniUSB port at the bottom, and an audio jack on the opposite end. The Surface Phone’s display in the images confirms that the device will be running Windows 10 Mobile, and the construction suggests that the device will integrate a front-facing camera, as well as a rear camera, which will include a flash.
Internals are still a mystery, but if common sense is anything to go by, while Qualcomm’s Snapdragon may seem like a logical candidate, a more likely CPU to power the Surface Phone, could actually come from Intel. Sources have been reporting of a new SoC for low-power devices, which could rival most of its ARM competitors, and designed specifically for certain Surface devices that may be yet on the drawing board, such as future lines of ultraportables and 2-in-1’s for budget consumers.
Lenovo’s CEO has indirectly corroborated these rumors, by announcing a future of Intel-powered ARM devices with the ability to run Win32 applications, typically relegated to desktop devices.
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