14 DAY TRIAL // They say Windows phones are dead, and judging from what has happened in the last year with the platform, this isn’t really inaccurate. But while everyone is jumping ship to Android or iOS, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella suggests that mobile still has a future at the company, though the whole thing could take shape in a completely different way.
In an interview with BI, Nadella reiterated that Windows 10 is an operating system built for all devices, and after a long time, he also mentioned consumers as an important part of the company’s strategy.
“For me the new forms of computing is what we want to build for consumers. But it is important that, instead of thinking that each one of these works as an independent computer, we think they have to form a fabric of devices for you,” he said.
While it’s not yet clear what this new fabric of devices actually involves, Microsoft has become the pioneer of new form factors with the Surface lineup, and rumor has it that the company is planning to do the same thing with the Surface Phone.
The Surface Phone
Although it’s clearly way too early to speculate on the form factor of the Surface Phone given that the project is not even confirmed, rumor has it that Microsoft is planning to build more than just a regular phone, and sources with knowledge of the matter hinted the company was exploring ways to create a device that would convert to another form factor, such as a laptop.
This could be possible with Continuum, the Windows 10 Mobile feature that allows a phone to double as a PC when connected to a bigger screen, and the introduction of full Windows 10 on ARM chips could bring an opportunity for Microsoft to expand more in this field.
Nadella suggests that this is the direction the company might be heading to, naming “mobility” as one top priority for the company in the long term.
“It’s about your mobility, your ability to get work done as an individual or as a team, when you have lots and lots of screens and computers around you. So when we talk about Windows 10, it’s not about a device operating system anymore, it’s an operating system for all of your devices. That’s how we’re trying to not only tackle the innovative challenge of bringing new things to life, but also deal with the social complexity of a lot of devices in your life,” he said.
Unfortunately, though these are all hints that mobile still has a future for Microsoft, there are no specifics available for the time being and the uncertainty that’s killing the platform lives on for a little longer.