14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is believed to be planning an overhaul of the mobile platform, with CShell to play a key role in this new push, and now information coming from China allegedly points to a device that could spearhead the firm’s new mobile efforts.
References to a device called Surface Mobile were discovered by @h0x0d on Twitter on an official Microsoft page, and judging from the existing details, this could be the eagerly-anticipated Surface Phone that everyone hopes to be real.
At this point, there’s a lot of unclear information on this Surface Mobile device, but let’s take each part one at a time and see what it could mean for the future of Windows phones.
Surface Mobile hardware
First and foremost, it looks like the Surface Mobile could boast projector capabilities. We’ve known for a while that Microsoft was looking for new form factors with devices that are part of the Surface lineup, and the Surface Phone (or the Surface Mobile if this is the official name) won’t make any exception.
By giving the phone projector capabilities, Microsoft could allow users to project images on a wall, and by offering additional connectivity options, like mice and keyboards, most likely with a dock, the company could in the end offer a powerful portable PC the size of a phone.
A combination of a smartphone, tablet, and laptop was already said to be considered for the Surface Phone, and if the information discovered today is accurate, this is how Microsoft could once again attempt to invent a new form factor.
According to this information, the Surface Mobile should be capable of operating for “more than an hour” in projector mode, though there’s a good chance that the device can also work when charging for longer operating time. Various input methods will be supported, including connected mice and keyboards, but also the Surface Pen, but this last one most likely refers to phone/tablet mode and not the alleged projector system.
The Surface Mobile would be powered by the Snapdragon 835 processor, and this makes perfect sense. Qualcomm’s most recent processor is already powering Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and is capable of running Windows 10 on ARM, so basically, with this chip, the Surface Mobile could be a PC with phone capabilities.
The discovered documentation points to two different codenames for the device, namely Peking and Slavonia. This means two prototypes might be under development at the moment, which aligns with previous rumors that Microsoft could be planning several versions of the Surface Phone for enterprise and consumers.
It goes without saying that everything should be taken with a healthy pinch of salt, especially because there’s a lot of unclear information at the moment, but with more rumors of an overhaul of Windows phones, there’s a good chance that Microsoft is working at full speed on something big on this front.