Surface Phone in late 2017?

[Danobe]

Jeez... nobody's saying it'll have poor specs. Read what people write and read between the lines.

I did. People are saying "specs don't matter"

The whole point people were making was that the surface phone, should it appear, won't be about top-of-the-line specs, but about performance that's good enough to execute what it will be about, which is something other than pure performance.

And again, if priced as I expect a surface phone to be priced (i.e. high), people will look at the specs too. And the better specs it has, the better it will perform. Especially since people are talking about it running x86 apps via emulation. If "specs don't matter" there, I don't know when.

 

[mattiasnyc]

I did. People are saying "specs don't matter"

No, you're not reading between the lines and understanding what people are saying. The way you are characterizing what they say you imply they would think it'd be ok with a single-core CPU from 2005 with 512MB memory and a 2MP camera to run a full Windows 10 etc. That's not the gist of what people are saying. I can't quite figure out if you're just trying to argue something for the sake of killing time or if you really don't see the nuance in what they're saying.

And again, if priced as I expect a surface phone to be priced (i.e. high), people will look at the specs too. And the better specs it has, the better it will perform. Especially since people are talking about it running x86 apps via emulation. If "specs don't matter" there, I don't know when.

Yes, they will look at specs as well, but the point was that whereas someone might look at an Android phone, or an iPhone, and look at its specs and based on that determine to upgrade their phone to the latest and greatest, the actual selling point of a "Surface Phone" won't be the specs, because the user can get that on Android and iPhone. Instead the selling point - the factor to win people over and make them invest in it - is the OS and other features.

I'll just take myself as an example, not to say that everyone is like me, but just to illustrate the principle:

When I bought my Lumia 950 I'd had an Android phone for a long time. It got buggy, slow and unreliable and only received two updates over its lifetime, and later than competing devices. So I didn't like the company (LG) and I wasn't in love with Android. So if I was looking purely at specs as a selling point, even the selling point, then I would no doubt have bought an Android phone seeing that I'd get great specs at a great price. But for me part of switching was the Windows Mobile UI and the fact that I have PCs at home, not Apple products. So, setting specs aside was logical. The only extent to which specs mattered was if the phone was able to perform the functions I really wanted - i.e. the UI, continuum, etc. And it did.

GUI, Continuum, OneDrive/OneNote integration, Groove Music etc, all MS features, was the selling point for me, not specs.

Similarly, "we" are saying that a future Surface Phone will not sell based on specs alone, which is to say specs won't be the selling point. Instead, the selling point will be something else that is related to the experience.


PS: Another way to look at it is if an app or feature really benefits from better specs, and if the increase is worth the added cost. IF a Surface Phone runs W10Mobile, then I would again argue there's a case to make for that OS running smoother on a lesser CPU than the competition, as far as I can see. So, if my user experience is X, then why would I pay more for X if I don't have to?

 

[Danobe]

And with that block of text, you're not saying anything new. You ask me to read between the lines, yet you fail to understand what I say. Good work.

I also like how you ignore that people will actually look at specs before buying. Take the Elite X3, of course people looked at specs before handing over money. It's not like everyone uses Windows phones and just buy whatever is served.

Take the surface books and surface tablets: People look at specs. Do all people who looks at the spec sheet absolutely NEED every last bit of power from their new gadget? Of course not. But specs is part of determining whether something is worth the cost. And people will with a surface phone look at specs to determine that ratio. Especially considering that it will likely be high-priced, and something new in the mobile sector - and it will be a mobile phone, and compared to other mobile phones.

They will also look at the specs to determine if it makes up for MS being so haphazard with their mobile strategy, and whether that is worth the price. Specs is an important parameter for almost everyone, except the most die-hard brand fanatics (i.e. die-hard iPhone users, for instance), and even then, it still matters.

 

[mattiasnyc]

And with that block of text, you're not saying anything new. You ask me to read between the lines, yet you fail to understand what I say. Good work.

Thank you.

I also like how you ignore that people will actually look at specs before buying. Take the Elite X3, of course people looked at specs before handing over money.

People propose that the Surface Phone won't be like the Elite X3, or any other phone, conceptually. That's the whole point!

 

[camaroz1985]

I must be getting old because I can't stand to read another argument about specs...

 

[bambuco]

I'm very excited with any news on a potential Surface Phone... but then I feel heartbroken given how long it'll be before we see anything tangible on an availability date. Its great to see HP take a lead on creating an all-in-one mobile device... but given how amazing all the MS Surface devices are, its just incredibly gut-wrenching to wait until 2018 for a legit Surface Phone!!
I just need some reassurance they can get full windows program to work and multi windows in CONTINUUM... that's a dealbreaker IMHO.

 

[darius_robin]

It is rumored for a September 2017 release.

 

[Tim-ANC]

It is rumored for a September 2017 release.

Might be perfect timing for me. Gives me 9 months to process the stages of grief about BB10. I am anticipating a long and painful breakup with my Passport.

 

[JaimitoFrog]

Probably about right, with RS3 and foldable screens from LG and Samsung being released then according to latest rumors.

 

[mattiasnyc]

The smartest thing to do in my opinion would be for MS to come out with new Lumias that are slightly updated, meaning not 'category-defying', and just give the market more options in the short term.

 

[patcherd]

Too funny. Every time the guy said Cortana in the video my 950 would activate Cortana and said " I can't get access to the internet " LOL !

 

[MDK22]

The smartest thing to do in my opinion would be for MS to come out with new Lumias that are slightly updated, meaning not 'category-defying', and just give the market more options in the short term.

Could not agree more ... those that still like Win Phone have slim pickings trying to upgrade their device.
... and LIMITED (60-90 day) carrier exclusives, IF at all.

Else, people are forced to move to another OS/Platform.
They need to maintain their slim market share, otherwise there'll be NO one to try their category defying new devices.

 

[AI_Skipper]

I know this sounds like a conspiracy theorist, and Daniel would totally call me out for saying it, but if you were Microsoft and you were phasing W10M as we know it for something else to launch with the Surface (Mobile?/Phone?) not launching any new handsets running W10M this year would be a smart move.

This being said, I can't see Microsoft cutting W10M development entirely even if the Surface device released runs Full Windows 10 Pro as there are currently handsets from OEMs which run it.

 

[EMitchell]

I did receive this from a colleague:

Surface Phone Unveiled For Microsoft Keynote 31 - NewsOXY

 

[mattiasnyc]

I wish people (not you Mitchell, the people writing articles online) would stop phrasing headilnes as assertions rather than the more correct speculation that it is. I clearly need more coffee to deal with click-bait...

 

[mattiasnyc]

I know this sounds like a conspiracy theorist, and Daniel would totally call me out for saying it, but if you were Microsoft and you were phasing W10M as we know it for something else to launch with the Surface (Mobile?/Phone?) not launching any new handsets running W10M this year would be a smart move.

I'm not so sure I agree with that. It's probably better to nurture the small market that exists than to not do so at all. Sure, some buyers of a new phone that isn't a "Surface" phone might be annoyed that they spent money on it and then a Surface comes out shortly after, but on the other hand you then have all the rest of us sitting on phones that might be due for an update. And of course MS could offer a trade-in deal perhaps.

In addition we'd have to consider what a Surface phone might run. If it's running Windows 10 instead of Windows 10 Mobile then it's an evolution and as such I'd say people would have to consider their purchase differently. So it might not be as much competition between the two as one might expect it to be.

 

[Tim-ANC]

I did receive this from a colleague:

Surface Phone Unveiled For Microsoft Keynote 31 - NewsOXY

Link doesn't open for me.

 

[EMitchell]

Link doesn't open for me.

I tried it last night, it wouldn't load, but I just tried it again and it loaded.

 

[Tim-ANC]

Still broke, might be my network choking on it. Is it good info?

 

[rasputin01]

I just hope that when the new windows phones start to be released that Microsoft gets them CDMA approved. Need a new phone for the Verizon peeps, I'd be fine with having to buy it direct from MS if I had to.