14 DAY TRIAL // This isn't the first time we hear of a possible Surface Phone coming out in 2016, but this time, it's Microsoft itself that's teasing the device and discussing ways to improve its mobile portfolio.
In the Windows Weekly podcast with Microsoft watchers Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley, Chris Capossela, who is holding the role of Microsoft chief marketing officer, has explained that Windows Phone needs what he called “the spiritual equivalent of a Surface tablet.”
With Surface, we made mistakes too
He pointed out that Windows Phone seems to have the same fate as the Surface lineup, which was at first criticized by many but which has now become one of the company's essential products in the hardware strategy.
“With Surface, we had a bunch of early misfires, but that notion of a tablet that could replace your laptop, that notion of saying, ‘Hey, Apple wants to sell you an iPad and they want to sell you a Mac. We think there’s one device that exploits the seam between those two devices,’” he said.
“We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side that doesn’t just feel like it’s a phone for people who love Windows. It’s got to be a phone where it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s a real shock or that’s a real breakthrough, and (for an Apple customer) that’s going to make me pause before I buy my 17th iPhone.’ And we need time to actually go build that.”
If it's real, the Surface Phone is expected to be the flagship of flagships and excel in terms of build quality, features and performance. It could be the pioneer of Windows 10 Mobile, offering much more than the Lumia 950 and 950 XL, both of which come with flaws that made many fans return their phones in the first week after purchase.
Microsoft doesn't specifically mention that a Surface Phone is in the making, but it does say that it's planning a device that could be a hit and have the wow factor in its blood. And indeed, the company needs time to build that, so let's just hope that 2016 is the year when this phone comes to life.