The Microsoft in house phone rumor mill thread!

[ironsoulreaver]

Alright here they come. This rumor is coming from the Wall Street Journal via Engadget.

WSJ: Microsoft testing homegrown handset designs with suppliers, may not see mass production -- Engadget

Apparently they are seeking suppliers for their smartphone which is expected to be between 4 and 5 inches. No word on if it will actually come to the public.

 

[power5]

All OS info has been given for everything win8 or wp8. Something else needs to grab the spotlight. MS leaked this info to keep the focus. People pay way too much attention to rumor "news". That is not even a picture of an actual phone. Its the same image MS uses for everything. Then they added a new wp8 lock screen image.

 

[jmerrey]

It wouldn't surprise me if this were true. In the current wp8 lineup, there isn't one home run. They all have flaws. 8x: 16gb of storage. 920: too big for some. Ativ: generic design. I'm sure there are other flaws, but those are the ones I think of when comparing the devices.

Yes, everyone has thier favorite amongst the headliner group; mine being the 920. But each phone has a trade off.

 

[squire777]

I think the Surface has been a hit for MS and surely this is encouraging them to make more hardware down the line.

I also think MS can't rely on all of the OEMs to come out with top notch hardware since many of them are more focused on Android.

 

[inteller]

If they push it as an "enthusiast" phone that will get all the updates FIRST, and will be sold unlocked a la Google Nexus then they will have a winner they can push through their store locations. I finally want a carrier free Windows Phone in the US.

 

[snowmutt]

At this point, I have given up the Ghost and accepted this Surface Phone is most likely real and may be a part of a spring/summer 2013 launch. If the Surface tablets flop, maybe they chicken out, but I doubt it. I see no real down side for MS: If HTC, Samsung, and Nokia hit homeruns with WP 8, they declare this the "Nexus" of WP and release just to see how it does. If the worst case comes true and sales disappoint and worse yet Nokia has a uprising due to less then great sales, MS releases it with a huge push to keep the ecosystem growing. Microsoft cannot afford to have Windows Phone not grow. It is way too vital to it's vision. It needs to be a viable 3rd OS.

 

[brmiller1976]

If the build quality, ergonomics and responsiveness resemble my Surface, I will be ALL OVER this rumorphone.

 

[stmav]

If the build quality, ergonomics and responsiveness resemble my Surface, I will be ALL OVER this rumorphone.

Ditto. Loving my Surface. What do you think a realistic time frame to see a phone, if it does exist, would be?

 

[brmiller1976]

No idea. I'd expect "after the holidays." Microsoft has to give HTC, Nokia and Samsung a "fair shake" with WP8 first.

I'd imagine that a "SurfacePhone" might also make sense as the platform to launch a major update, ala WP8.5.

They are staffing up their hardware operations big-time, which tells me that they're planning on going pretty big in devices.

 

[daveh101]

I think it is just one big rumour and that is it. It is more likely that they are getting multiple different devices and form factors made up for future testing and innovation privately within the R & D locked doors of MS.

Also, looking at the market, there isn't the same reasons to launch a 'surface' phone like there was for the pc market. OEM of pc's were lazy, surface has made them step their game up. At the moment, the OEM's for the phones aren't lazy, this is a new market so they have everything to play for in the OEM's making the nice funky hardware.

 

[brmiller1976]

Actually, I'd say two of the three OEMs flunked the WP8 launch, and the remaining one gets a passing grade but not an "A."