14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is a very active player in the hardware business, and while the company doesn’t typically comment on future project, hints of new ideas that are being developed behind the closed doors are regularly discovered.
This time, German website WinFuture came across a job ad that hints at a new device powered by Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 845 processor.
While most people are tempted to think that Microsoft is ready to return to the mobile war with a Surface Phone, there’s a chance the new CPU is related to the company’s investments in Windows 10 on ARM, a project that’s supposed to bring the full version of the operating system to devices powered by ARM chips.
The job ad does mention that some experience with smartphones is needed, yet given Microsoft’s investments in smartphones, there’s a good chance this won’t be the Surface Phone, but more likely the Courier-like digital notebook device that made the rounds lately.
Windows 10 on ARM
One of the “top 3 must-have hard skills” that Microsoft expects job applicants to have is experience with “LTE manufacturing test on Qualcomm (8998 and SDM 845) and/or Intel chipsets, Q-DAT or QDAP background.”
Qualcomm 8998 is the existing Snapdragon 835 that’s powering flagships powered by Android, including the Samsung Galaxy S8, while SDM 845 is the upcoming Snapdragon 845 processor expected to be unveiled sometime soon.
It goes without saying that Microsoft hasn’t said a single thing about its plans on the ARM front, but with Snapdragon 835 already almost one year old, it makes sense for the company to start investing into new chips that could power its devices.
Windows 10 on ARM is an ambitious project that is yet to become successful despite public demos which have shown impressive performance on a Snapdragon 820 chip. Microsoft has claimed one-day full battery life for ARM devices powered by its OS, but for the time being, it looks like the company needs more time to complete the work behind the closed doors.