What is actually a Surface Phone? Mary Jo Foley believes ...

isaac lee ishida

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What is actually a Surface Phone? Mary Jo Foley & Paul Thurrott think Surface Phone might is not a Smartphone.
But a device which has a 9-inch screen... so tablet or phablet???

But I hope Surface Phone will have 6 inches display, easy to carry anywhere.

Windows Weekly 467: Don't Click the Red X

https://youtu.be/_wpjFeGDXSQ?t=2066

time (38.29)

So what do you all think about this?
 

Guytronic

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Win Mobile on a tablet?
When I had my RT I wished for a tablet running the phone OS.

If this is coming it's another failure of MS to recognize what may have worked in the past.
In my opinion it's too late for any success in the current competitive market.

For me I'll never spend a dime for another tablet when phones do so much now.
 

pankaj981

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It will be a phone/phablet below 6 inch screen size. What's the point in renaming their existing Surface LTE product line to Surface Phone?
 

Laura Knotek

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I think that marketing a device for enterprise rather than consumers is a bad idea nowadays. The days of carrying 2 phones, 1 work-issued and 1 personal, are pretty much over.

BlackBerry hasn't had any success by concentrating on the enterprise market.
 

Witness

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If they can shrink the PC into an oversized USB stick with an Atom processor, they can do this on a phone. Just give me a phone that runs as W10 Mobile does already with an Atom processor in it. When I go Continuum, I want to run some lightweight PC applications in full screen. Moreover, I'd like to be able to run those PC applications on the phone without a larger screen if I absolutely need to. Throw in an accessory similar to the old Moto Atrix laptop style accessory as well and it will be just like another lightweight laptop. That's what I want Surface Phone to be.
 

anon(6078578)

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If they can shrink the PC into an oversized USB stick with an Atom processor, they can do this on a phone. Just give me a phone that runs as W10 Mobile does already with an Atom processor in it. When I go Continuum, I want to run some lightweight PC applications in full screen. Moreover, I'd like to be able to run those PC applications on the phone without a larger screen if I absolutely need to. Throw in an accessory similar to the old Moto Atrix laptop style accessory as well and it will be just like another lightweight laptop. That's what I want Surface Phone to be.
A USB stick doesn't have to be frugal with power whereas a Phone does. So just because they can shrink a PC with an Intel CPU down to the size of a phone doesn't mean they should.
 

Greywolf1967

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I think Alcatel has the right idea with The Pixi 3 (8).

Phone OS in Tablet form factor, but it does need a little extra added.

Access to Continuum , a little more RAM

More and more people I know, no longer buy PC's. Their office work is done more on the phone or a Tablet.

Bluetooth can now handle all your voice needs, as well as keyboard and Mouse, printing and in many cases all at the same time.

So my ideal device would be even a 7" screen that could access a larger screen if needed and act as a phone at the same time.

So a Surface Phone would be a Jack of all trades
 

ttsoldier

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I really don't care...

I do care about Windows 10 rom for other devices.

Eg. Loading Windows 10 on Nexus, samsung, oneplus devices etc.
 

Chintan Gohel

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If they can shrink the PC into an oversized USB stick with an Atom processor, they can do this on a phone. Just give me a phone that runs as W10 Mobile does already with an Atom processor in it. When I go Continuum, I want to run some lightweight PC applications in full screen. Moreover, I'd like to be able to run those PC applications on the phone without a larger screen if I absolutely need to. Throw in an accessory similar to the old Moto Atrix laptop style accessory as well and it will be just like another lightweight laptop. That's what I want Surface Phone to be.

the USB stick doesn't have many of the phone internals like battery, GPS module, SIM module, Microsd module, antennae, speakers, mic, camera, sensorcore, screen, headphone jack etc. Put all of that and it will be at least 1.2cm thick and limited due to the relatively energy hungry processor
 

Indistinguishable

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Define "Mini" :p
As RumoredNow said above, it has to be pocket-able...a 9-inch "mobile" isn't.

I agree with that. it should be pocket-able. They'd be defying logic and demand to make a 9 inch mobile device.


7" screen that could access a larger screen if needed and act as a phone at the same time.

^^ I think this is where we're heading. Microsoft has kept the category of "phablets" alive in presentations for a reason. The Lumia 950XL is pretty small for a phablet. I think the Panos Phone will fill the gap..

Universal%20Windows.jpg
 

Keith Wallace

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Who said it'll be called a Surface Phone? Mary Jo nailed it. It's a Surface Mobile device. Surface Mini form with high end specs and phone capability.

And how does Surface Mini mean "no Surface Phone?" They could push out the regular Surface name, or just make it a 9-inch device, keep the Surface Pro in the 12-14" range, then add a phone at 5.5" or something.

We're all guessing with no real information, and it's basically setting everyone up to look dumb at bad conjecture. IDK why we keep havign the same discussion over and over with no new information.
 

Indistinguishable

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We're all guessing with no real information, and it's basically setting everyone up to look dumb at bad conjecture. IDK why we keep havign the same discussion over and over with no new information.

Yes and no. While there hasn't been any official information from Microsoft on what the Panos Phone will be, Mary Jo and Paul Thurott aren't without sources. If they've gathered the impression that it'll be larger than we expect, then that's worth noting.
 

Keith Wallace

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So my ideal device would be even a 7" screen that could access a larger screen if needed and act as a phone at the same time.

I agree with that. it should be pocket-able. They'd be defying logic and demand to make a 9 inch mobile
^^ I think this is where we're heading. Microsoft has kept the category of "phablets" alive in presentations for a reason. The Lumia 950XL is pretty small for a phablet. I think the Panos Phone will fill the gap..

I don't think this would make much sense. If you're up for a secondary display, I don't see 7" as a reasonable size. You're living at a size that makes a secondary screen somewhat superfluous there, depending on the size of that screen (I'd say anything under 27").

I've supported this idea from the get-go, in a way. I've been saying that I wanted the Surface Phone to be an alternative to the ASUS ZenPhone concept. With Continuum, you have the ability to sent up a Surface Pro chassis in the way we saw with that Continuum laptop deal. You could have a gutted Surface Pro (perhaps filled with a massive battery to charge the phone at the same time) where the phone slides and locks into the back via Type-C.

I've got fairly large hands, though not massive. I'm sitting next to a 5.2" Lumia 950 that is about as big a phone as I would want. 7" would just not make enough sense. I think you want 5-6", and I've just basically sat in the middle and called my goal 5.5". I'd really like to see them cut back on the vertical bezel regardless, but that's not a big deal. A 7" display just isn't portable "enough" to be a phone for many people. Given that the Surface Phone will be looking at a niche audience by OS interest from the start, throwing it into a highly niche form factor market to boot is asking for trouble with sales. I'd say the aim for optimal sales potential is 4.5-5.5", but as I said before, I've expected the range to be a bit higher than that.
 

Greywolf1967

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I don't think this would make much sense. If you're up for a secondary display, I don't see 7" as a reasonable size. You're living at a size that makes a secondary screen somewhat superfluous there, depending on the size of that screen (I'd say anything under 27").

I've supported this idea from the get-go, in a way. I've been saying that I wanted the Surface Phone to be an alternative to the ASUS ZenPhone concept. With Continuum, you have the ability to sent up a Surface Pro chassis in the way we saw with that Continuum laptop deal. You could have a gutted Surface Pro (perhaps filled with a massive battery to charge the phone at the same time) where the phone slides and locks into the back via Type-C.

I've got fairly large hands, though not massive. I'm sitting next to a 5.2" Lumia 950 that is about as big a phone as I would want. 7" would just not make enough sense. I think you want 5-6", and I've just basically sat in the middle and called my goal 5.5". I'd really like to see them cut back on the vertical bezel regardless, but that's not a big deal. A 7" display just isn't portable "enough" to be a phone for many people. Given that the Surface Phone will be looking at a niche audience by OS interest from the start, throwing it into a highly niche form factor market to boot is asking for trouble with sales. I'd say the aim for optimal sales potential is 4.5-5.5", but as I said before, I've expected the range to be a bit higher than that.

Microsoft has the right idea with the display dock, as a 7" or 8 " device can be of use while on the go. When back in the office just a click and you on a big screen, or connected to a projector, or what ever the use case needed is.

Now combine a Pen for the mobile use and even something like entry into excel can be done with ease, something that is not so easy on a 4"-5.5" device on the go.

I have no doubt Microsoft has a trick or two yet to come into play, much like the Surface Book was a total surprise ( no leaks that I was aware of ), all we have talked about and more could come out of a Panos design Surface Phone.

However what leads me to think 7" device is the tease of Inking Center that will come to Windows 10, I can see a 10 mobile version not long after the Surface and Tablets get it......and Ink on a 5.5 can be done but I see them placing focus on screen space.
 

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