This year, several smartphone makers have launched phones with super-slim bezels and high screen-to-body ratio. However, Microsoft was working on a bezel-less phone around three years ago. The smartphone was expected to debut as Lumia 435, but it appears that the Redmond giant killed the idea of launching it.

Microsoft had released a phone with Lumia 435 moniker in 2015. However, it had arrived as a low-end device that sported a 4-inch display. The cancelled Lumia 435 was codenamed as Vela and it was also expected to arrive with low-end specs. However, it would have featured a 5-inch HD display with thin bezels.

As it can be seen in the above image, the bottom bezel of the cancelled Lumia 435 is quite thick, but the side bezels are relatively thin. The handset was expected to deliver a screen-to-body ratio of 79 percent which is slightly more than that of Sharp Crystal Aquos that was unveiled in 2014. The Crystal Aquos was first smartphone with very thin bezels to hit the U.S. markets.

The near bezel-less smartphones of this year such as Apple iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and LG V30 have screen-to-body ratios that are slightly more than 80 percent. Hence, the cancelled Microsoft Lumia 435 could have been an attractive budget phone in 2014 and it was expected to be price around $199.

The near bezel-less Lumia 435 is not the only cancelled device from the company. Recent reports have revealed that Lumia McLaren, Lumia 960 and Surface Mini tablet are some of the cancelled devices from Microsoft.

The Redmond giant had stopped providing support for Windows Phone 8.1 in July this year.  Recent tweets from Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s Corporate VP for Windows claim that the company will be only releasing bug fixes, security updates, etc. for Windows 10 Mobile. He added that adding new features to it or introducing new hardware is not the focus of the company. The reason behind it is that Redmond giant could not convince enough developers to create apps for Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile. Also, since there is low number of Windows 10 Mobile users, most companies are not interested in investing on the platform.

It appears that Microsoft is unlikely to release a smartphone in the near future. It may not even launch the long-rumored Surface Phone smartphone.

(source)

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