Redmond's new flagships are expected this fall

Aug 24, 2015 04:38 GMT  ·  By

Refreshing the mobile phone lineup and bringing new high-end models to the market is what Microsoft's planning to do this fall in order to remain relevant in the smartphone business, and two models that are expected to see daylight in the coming months are Lumia 940 and the bigger 940 XL.

While the company hasn't provided us with any detail about these two phones, other than the “yes, new flagships are coming” confirmation, a new report now claims that the two aforementioned devices could launch in mid-October at a dedicated event in New York.

Windows 10 Mobile is also expected to be ready for prime time in October, so this could indeed be the right moment to introduce the new flagships running the overhauled operating system, but previous rumors pointed to a late September release for both the phones and the OS.

On the other hand, October 19 is Monday and looking back at Microsoft's product launches in the last few years, no unveiling took place on this day of the week. Instead, the company has always preferred to go for the middle of the week, so Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday could be more likely to witness the introduction of the new models.

Surface Pro 4 and Band 2

Rumors swirling around the web these days claim that Microsoft is planning an October event not only for its new Lumia lineup but also for the brand new Surface Pro 4 and the second-generation Band.

Previous reports on this pointed out that the software giant might use just one event in October to unveil its latest players in the hardware industry, thus reiterating its commitment for this side of the market with new devices that would expand the Surface and the Band lineup.

Lumia 940 and Lumia 940 XL early specs

This is just a rumor, but it appears that the Lumia 940 and Lumia 940 XL will come with 5.2- and 5.7-inch screens, respectively, and a polycarbonate-made case.

The 940 will feature a Snapdragon 808 processor, while the bigger sibling will get an 810 with Adreno 430 GPU. Both will come with 3GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for more space, a 20-megapixel camera, USB Type-C, an iris scanner for Windows Hello, and support for the pen that Microsoft's now shipping with the Surface Pro 3.