14 DAY TRIAL // Sooner rather than later, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft might officially unveil details on its own Windows Phone handset, which has been long rumored to arrive on shelves under the name of Microsoft Surface Phone.
As expected, the company denied the rumor, yet more and more details on what the upcoming device might be all about have started to emerge.
One interesting piece of information that made it online a few days ago was that the Surface phone won’t arrive on shelves this year, but that Microsoft is indeed preparing it for launch for the next year.
Furthermore, it was said that the company was already partnering with handset vendors around the world for the launch of this device, yet no specific names have been provided.
A new rumor, however, suggests that Huawei might be the chosen manufacturer, and that Microsoft is already looking for engineers for the handset’s camera.
The info comes from a Twitter user who calls himself The MS Nerd, and who proved to offer quite accurate details on Microsoft’s plans for the Windows Phone platform before.
“This is a super interesting tip: Microsoft is apparently working with Huawei & Mediatek for Surface phone & is hiring camera engineers now,” the tweet from the MS Nerd reads.
With both Huawei and Mediatek mainly focused on the lower end of the market, it would not come as a surprise if the Surface phone, provided that this is the device Microsoft is working on, would be launched as an affordable smartphone.
According to WMPoweruser, we might actually see a second generation of KIN being brought to shelves, though one with a different platform and wider market reach.
If so, we’re still left wondering whether a high-end Surface phone is under development or not, one that would prove to be for the Windows Phone platform what the Microsoft Surface tablet PC is expected to become for the Windows 8 OS.