The future of Windows phones is about to unfold, and fold back, literally.

The very end of 2016 brought us two devices that are bound to battle, head-to-head, well into this new year, until Microsoft releases what some are hoping could be a game-changer for the ultraportable category within the surface family of devices.

Tech announcements often come with cyclic predictability, mostly due to relatively obvious marketing clues, and not less often, by what is expected as the next most exciting product consumer love, or will want to love.

Microsoft has turned up the heat on its competition, last November, by upgrading its flagship Surface Book, to an i7 Skylake processor, a larger battery, and an improved graphic chipset. While the Surface Book i7 is not yet the Surface Book 2 we have been waiting for, the difference is visible, compared to its precursor.