x86 Surface Phones?

[Indistinguishable]

A surface is not a mobile device? I thought tablets were considered mobile devices?

The Surface line is a Tablet/Hybrid line right now. Sure you could call them "mobile devices." But they're not mobile devices in the same sense that Lumia's are. Again, we're crossing into all sorts of new territories here with an intel phone, a new team leading design/development, new market, etc... Who knows how things will pan out... Probably just Panay.

 

[jmajid]

Right, still a midrange offering & successor to the 830. Even it isn't in the 8xx naming scheme.

Leaked render allegedly shows Microsoft 'Saana' phone for 2016 | Windows Central

interesting that the start screen on that render shows "Mon 04"...
when is the next Monday the 4th? January 2016 - of course it could be April 4th (actual release)
let the rumors begin

EDIT:

if the codename is still Sanaa then:

Sanaa is a African girl name. The meaning of the name is `Work of Art, Beauty `

 

[power5]

interesting that the start screen on that render shows "Mon 04"...
when is the next Monday the 4th? January 2016 - of course it could be April 4th (actual release)
let the rumors begin

EDIT:

if the codename is still Sanaa then:

Sanaa is a African girl name. The meaning of the name is `Work of Art, Beauty `

And then July, and then not till Sept 2017

 

[jmajid]

And then July, and then not till Sept 2017

hopefully we can count out sep 2017!

 

[Citizen X]

I hear it's going to be announced in January. Possibly released in Febraury.

So announced at CES perhaps?

 

[Ed Boland]

So announced at CES perhaps?

Who knows. The way things get delayed or pushed back with MS, it's anyone's guess. As long as they keep from officially saying anything about it, they can take all the time they want. (Well, actually this is Microsoft we're talking about, so they could officially announce it and still take all the time they want! lol) but I'm sure they'll at least wait for the initial surge of Windows Phone "enthusiasts" to run out and buy the 950/950XLs before they say anything.

 

[chenhogi]

Really looking forward to this phone. If it adheres to the design language of the Surface line, it should be quite special.
I currently have a 930, so am not in a major rush to get the 950. Haven't seen one in person, but the design is rather boring IMO, and the lack of physical keys is very disappointing.

 

[macroweb]

A guy I know who works for Microsoft. He's told me about the Surface phone coming in January on at least a couple occasions. He was dead on about the new Surface being waaaay more than anyone was expecting at the Oct 6th event. I think he knows a little something.. I told him last time I saw him (about a week ago) that I was thinking about getting an iPhone 6S Plus instead of a 950XL... His response was "please, just give me three months.. Wait for the Surface phone this January before you decide"

You guys don't have to take my word for it... I'm just repeating what I've heard from him. He said they wanted to release it now, but are waiting for Intel to catch up on their hardware end. He said "they're not waiting on us (Microsoft), we are ready!"

I'm with Ed on this, primarily because it explains Verizon's lack of interest in either of the 950's. Over the years there have been instances where VZW wouldn't carry the latest release because they knew a better model was coming very soon. VZW is very stingy with its inventory, isn't that what they did with Lumia Icon, AT&T got the 1520 and VZW waited and got the Icon (my current phone).

 

[Musicman247]

Well, with Daniel's review of the 950 we can say now that the "Surface Phone" will not be coming until at least late next year.

 

[Kavu2]

Well, with Daniel's review of the 950 we can say now that the "Surface Phone" will not be coming until at least late next year.

Just adding for reference, the Daniel quote from his 950 review on WC today.
-------------------------------------
"If you are on the fence and waiting for something better than the Lumia 950 I can say with confidence now that there won't be another high-end Windows phone until late next year. Unless another OEM steps in with an equally spec'd phone, the Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL will be it."
------------------------------------

 

[Musicman247]

Just adding for reference, the Daniel quote from his 950 review on WC today.
-------------------------------------
"If you are on the fence and waiting for something better than the Lumia 950 I can say with confidence now that there won't be another high-end Windows phone until late next year. Unless another OEM steps in with an equally spec'd phone, the Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL will be it."
------------------------------------

Unless the "Surface Phone" is not "high-end".

 

[CygnusOrion]

I'm pretty sure if a Surface Phone ever comes it won't be unveiled until the next October hardware event.

 

[Indistinguishable]

Well, with Daniel's review of the 950 we can say now that the "Surface Phone" will not be coming until at least late next year.

Rubino said he's going to write an article with more information from his sources about the intel phone this week. Hopefully that will answer some questions.

 

[negative1ne]

What I'd love to see is an extension of continuum. A phone with an Intel Atom processor that can run W10M when being used as a phone,but when connected to a screen(or maybe even just a keyboard/keyboard dock) runs full W10 with x86 support. Ideally it would be 6" like the 1520. Any smaller would be too small for full W10. Even with 6" UI scaling would be necessary.

why is everyone so surprised with this idea?

it was done years ago with a fujitsu phone that ran windows 7.
Horrible Idea Nightmare Phone Runs Windows 7 (Yes, the Desktop OS)



yeah it was smaller, and the battery didn't last long... but it was there...
---------------------

Size: 125 ? 61 ? 19.8 mm (19.8 mm at thickest point)
Weight: 218 g (with battery pack)
Continuous Standby Time: ~600 hours in FOMA 3G
Continuous Talk Time:
~370 minutes in FOMA 3G voice mode
~170 minutes in videophone mode
Display: ~4" wide SVGA touchscreen (1024 ? 600 resolution)
Camera: (back side) 5.1 megapixel effective resolution, CMOS sensor
(inside) 0.32 megapixel effective resolution, CMOS sensor (0.17 megapixel in Windows? 7 mode)
Color: Navy Black

Windows? 7 mode

OS: Windows? 7 Home Premium 32 bit Full Version (with SP1)
CPU: Intel? Atom™ Z600 processor (supports HT technology) (1.20GHz)(4)
Main memory: Comes standard with 1GB/max 1GB (LPDDR400)
SSD: ~32 GB (eMMC)
Wireless LAN: IEEE802.11b/g/n (communications speed: up to 65Mbps)(5)
Windows? 7 battery life: ~2 hours(6) in Windows? 7 mode

this is not even close to being a new idea.

there was even a dock for it:
---------------------------------------


Unit Description :
- Docomo F-01 Cradle Docking station
- This was made and designed to be used with the Fujitsu F-07C LooX
- Docking station has 4 USB ports and also 1 HDMI port
- Just place your Fujitsu F-07C into the docking station, then plug in your PC keyboard / mouse / Monitor / headset etc !



later
-1

 

[Indistinguishable]

why is everyone so surprised with this idea?

it was done years ago with a fujitsu phone that ran windows 7.
Horrible Idea Nightmare Phone Runs Windows 7 (Yes, the Desktop OS)

View attachment 117720

yeah it was smaller, and the battery didn't last long... but it was there...
---------------------



this is not even close to being a new idea.

there was even a dock for it:
---------------------------------------
View attachment 117721

Unit Description :
- Docomo F-01 Cradle Docking station
- This was made and designed to be used with the Fujitsu F-07C LooX
- Docking station has 4 USB ports and also 1 HDMI port
- Just place your Fujitsu F-07C into the docking station, then plug in your PC keyboard / mouse / Monitor / headset etc !

View attachment 117722

later
-1

It's not simply the idea of an x86 device that is exciting. It's the prospect of Microsoft doing it their way. Rubino wrote a great editorial speculating Microsoft's vision for mobile. It's not the prospect of what's already been done that's interesting. It's the prospect of Microsoft driving the future of the mobile space.

The future of Windows Mobile ? Does Microsoft want to reboot the concept of a phone? | Windows Central

 

[jhoff80]

So here's the biggest problem in my mind. If Microsoft wanted an x86 phone to run desktop apps, it wouldn't be able to run Windows 10 Mobile. Windows 10 Mobile's Continuum feature gives you something that resembles a classic desktop, but it's not. None of the desktop / Win32 APIs exist on the phone. Adding those to the phone would also give additional overhead in the OS, and you'd end up with something that was a weird hybrid of the two OSes (Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile) that are supposedly the same OS but aren't actually.

And if you weren't going to enable Win32 apps in Continuum then there's no reason for an Intel Windows Phone to exist. Personally (and I know I'm in the minority here), I just want a Surface Phone with a pen, regardless of whether it's x86 or ARM. Give me OneNote and Surface Pen support (like the 950 XL was originally rumored to have) and I'm ecstatic about the device.

 

[Slovenix]

Anyways.. Do you guys think x86 phone really makes sense in the real world?

I, like many others here dreamt about a true Windows phone for years too, thinking how cool would it be to run desktop programs, even share the same UI, use a real desktop browser and so on.. However in all that years, mobile apps that run on ARM processors became way more powerful and are getting on the same level as if they were desktop programs or sometimes even better and same stands for the OS that is running on it.

I'd rather keep, expand, improve current mobile processors and apps

And this is already happening on all platforms. On Windows Mobile we got Universal Apps and I'd rather see Microsoft push those apps and make them a standard, rather than going back to supporting 32bit classic programs.

I indeed like the idea, but it's just isn't as practical as it might look like..

People would argue how cool that would be, to plug it in a display and run full Windows and stuff.. But really? What for? It's probably going to cost 1K plus to get the same specs as some low to mid PC and after all, you'll require a Screen, keyboard, mouse, all the adapters.. And be like "why don't just get a laptop, tablet" that will always be more powerful no matter what.

And before anyone yells "do you carry a laptop in your pocket", well same goes for "do you carry a display, keyboard and a mouse in your pocket"

You might also get a Windows on a stick that is even more powerful than current phones and will improve by the time Surface phone would get out. It's not like everything else stands still when Microsoft is creating something. Other companies are creating and improving too.

I still like the idea, but it would probably be interesting first few minutes of use. As for real world use and practicality (Laptop) you need even more horsepower.

And after all, who even wants this? Microsoft should research that before they lose even more money, because other than a few Windows users here who does even care.

And for your info, Android is expanding its way to PCs too (hint hint, Universal apps) this is where Microsoft should focus.

 

[negative1ne]

So here's the biggest problem in my mind. If Microsoft wanted an x86 phone to run desktop apps, it wouldn't be able to run Windows 10 Mobile. Windows 10 Mobile's Continuum feature gives you something that resembles a classic desktop, but it's not. None of the desktop / Win32 APIs exist on the phone. Adding those to the phone would also give additional overhead in the OS, and you'd end up with something that was a weird hybrid of the two OSes (Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile) that are supposedly the same OS but aren't actually.

And if you weren't going to enable Win32 apps in Continuum then there's no reason for an Intel Windows Phone to exist. Personally (and I know I'm in the minority here), I just want a Surface Phone with a pen, regardless of whether it's x86 or ARM. Give me OneNote and Surface Pen support (like the 950 XL was originally rumored to have) and I'm ecstatic about the device.

they could either go, dual chip, which you can choose to go into x86 mode if connected through continuum,
or just make the device a pure x86 type, and run some kind of vm or emulation for other apps.

depends on who they want to target, the business crowd has different needs.

later
-1

 

[WildKarrde]

People would argue how cool that would be, to plug it in a display and run full Windows and stuff.. But really? What for? It's probably going to cost 1K plus to get the same specs as some low to mid PC and after all, you'll require a Screen, keyboard, mouse, all the adapters.. And be like "why don't just get a laptop, tablet" that will always be more powerful no matter what.

Have you ever bought an iPhone outright though? I did, when I switched to T-Mobile, and my 64GB iPhone 5s cost $849. Most people pay this cost month by month in their contract, but they're still paying for it none-the-less. I'd gladly have paid $150 more for a fully capable pocket Windows machine.

I'm not disagreeing that there are certainly hurdles to overcome, but the current top of the line 128GB iPhone 6s Plus costs $949. Premium phones have never been cheap. When the iPhone was first released it cost $600 with a 2 year contract, when at the time most phones were free with contract. Nonetheless, there is a huge market out there for them.

The Surface has serious "cool" points with virtually everybody I talk to. It is seen as a legitimate premium device, which nearly everyone I talk to aspires to own. This is the time for Microsoft to release a legitimate, next generation smart phone. If they can revolutionize the smart phone industry like they have the tablet industry, they'll have struck gold. I don't think that's going to happen with an ARM processor though.

 

[Steve Adams]

They are working on ARM support for w10 now. Looks like they are moving forward without x86 processors in the mobile "devices". meaning phones.