The Surface Phone you've always wanted is happening

[Windows Central]

Panos Panay and the Surface team are building their own ultimate Windows Phone ? but you'll be waiting a while for it.
Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed that the rumored Intel-powered Windows 10 phone slated for May 2016 has been cancelled. Instead, an all-new flagship phone lead by Panos Panay and the team of engineers that built the Microsoft Surface and Surface Book has been given the green light. Slated for a release in the second half of 2016 this may be the long-wished-for Surface phone. Here is what we know and what we don't.
Earlier in July I noted that sources had told me that Microsoft's super-secret phone project was slated for May 2016. Almost nothing was known about the venture except that the phone was metal, and somehow Intel was involved. At the time, I was lead to believe it was a Microsoft project, which never sat well with me (more on that below), but it seems it was yet another Nokia carryover.

Any details about the project, however, are now moot. The latest I hear is that this 'metal' phone has been cancelled.

Full story from the WindowsCentral blog...

 

[ohgood]

I don't get it, what's the big deal about a scaled down surface tablet, with phone capabilities ?

Please be specific with points wether hardware or software, I'm trying to understand why microsoft would want to pour money into yet another operating system, or hardware support.

Thanks