Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is rumored to be building a productivity-focused smartphone. The phone, purportedly dubbed the Surface Mobile, is expected to be released at the end of this year.
Though Microsoft hasn’t official announced the phone, a couple of statements from the company’s CEO Satya Nadella suggest that Microsoft has the Surface mobile device in the pipeline.
Nadella, last year, hinted that Microsoft is building an “ultimate mobile device.” He later mentioned that his company’s mobile phone strategy is bit different this time, saying that Microsoft is thinking about a smartphone that “may not look like phones that are there today.”
Nadella, who has transformed the Redmond-based software giant into an innovative into a very different kind of firm, said that they are planning to introduce a unique handset and his company is looking at different forms of mobile devices.
“We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today’s market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device,” Nadella said.
His comments during a recent podcast interview with Molly Wood’s Marketplace suggested that Microsoft could soon launch the purported Surface Mobile.
“When you say we’ll make more phones, I’m sure we’ll make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today,” Nadella said.
Here is everything we so far know about the purported Surface Mobile.
Microsoft Surface Mobile Specs, News, Features
According to the rumors mill, the Surface Mobile will arrive in three very different models. Rumors suggest that the lineup will include a consumer model, a business phone, and a special edition handset.
The Mobile is rumored to feature a 5.5 AMOLED display with a 1440×2560 pixel Quad-HD resolution. Rumors indicate that the device will have an edge-to-edge display.
The higher-end model is expected to feature 4GB of RAM with 128GB of storage. The handset is most likely to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, which is powerful and requires less energy than predecessor, thus saving the battery life.
The camera is one of the most important part of a smartphone. Microsoft is said to introduce a 21 MP rear camera with a Carl Zeiss lens in the Surface Phone. On the front side, there is expected to an 8 MP camera.
Microsoft Surface Mobile Price and Release Date
The Surface Phone is said to be an expensive smartphone aimed at the premium smartphone maker currently dominated by the Apple’s iPhone.
According to rumors, the lower-end model of the Surface Mobile will cost $700, while the higher-end model will start at $1,100.
Many people in the tech industry believe that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) will launch the Surface Mobile in the fourth quarter of 2017. However, some sources claim that the smartphone won’t arrive until the first quarter of 2018. We see no signs of the Surface Mobile this year and the company is most likely to announce the phone in the first half of 2018.