14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft hasn’t talked too much about the demise of its smartphone platform, despite Joe Belfiore, the company’s Corporate Vice President in the Operating Systems Group, confirming recently that no new features and hardware are planned.
In spite of this nearly-complete silence, Microsoft keeps dropping signs that Windows phones are dead, and more recently, it looks like the firm silently removed the Windows 10 Mobile product code from the Windows SDK.
PRODUCT MOBILE CORE, which is the code that Microsoft was using to point to Windows 10 Mobile in the Windows SDK, is nowhere to be seen, as Twitter user and Microsoft watcher @h0x0d discovered. The change most likely took place with the release of Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, as this particular version of the operating system has never been shipped to Windows phones.
What this means for diehard fans is that future Windows updates will no longer be available for Windows phones, though this isn’t necessarily a big surprise given Belfiore’s own statement.
Security updates for two more years
The only good thing is that Windows phones will continue getting security updates until December 2019, though it goes without saying that staying with the platform will become quite a challenge.
Developers keep leaving the platform for an obvious reason, and apps are being pulled regularly, so aside from the core operating system, there’s not much to use on a Windows phone.
As for what’s next on the mobile front from Microsoft, it’s believed the company is indeed working on a new mobile device, though it’s not clear right now if this will be a phone per se or a new form factor that would include calling capabilities as well. It’s been rumored Microsoft wants to revive the original Courier project for a new Surface notebook with LTE support, and recent patents have hinted at a folding mobile device that many are referring to as Surface Phone.
Microsoft obviously doesn’t comment on speculation and hasn’t said a single thing about the recent API change, so take this as the final goodbye the company gives to its mobile platform.
