The Surface Phone that had a mid-rage standing as reported by
our sources earlier stands cancelled. In
fact Microsoft is not planning to release a new Intel-chip based phone in
near-future. Things look great however for a new device that may use a new
Intel chip with much powerful SOC than the Sofia LTE chip that Windows 10
Mobile currently supports. Interestingly, this time Microsoft may indeed plan
to use “Surface” moniker for this device, report our sources. This will be a
big decision, as it means moving away from an established brand name and losing
some brand-loyalty in the process.
This information comes via our trusted sources who have
tipped us about Microsoft testing Lumias based on Snapdragon 820 processor. It seems
as if Microsoft may adopt a Surface Pro 4 – Surface Book kind of strategy here
in mobiles too. There may be two flagships or super high-end devices, one with
Snapdragon 820, more playful and another that may be claimed to be the ultimate
powerhouse device, the Surface phone, with even ability to run Win32 apps and
with and enhanced continuum.
Intel may introduce new chips for Smartphones with powerful
CPUs designed to give tough competition to Qualcomm in Q2, 2016. If our sources
have to believed, Microsoft has been on-board with Intel since testing of Sofia
LTE chips and will be testing the new Intel processors before these finally
come to market.
Surface Phone may boast with a Metallic unibody design and
will carry the Surface family design genes. It may have a 5.2 / 5.5 inch, 4K
UHD display; though one of our sources claims a 2K display. Anyways, it is
expected to sport a more refined IR scanner and may come with an innovative
cover and native Surface Pen support. We however hear that that rear camera may
not be 20 MP big, but rather around 15 MP but with some advanced features. It
may have a 8 MP FFC with flash.
For all the goodness, it is not supposed to arrive before end
of Q3 2016 and may run the next major version of Windows 10 Mobile out of the
box.
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