Microsoft recently declared that they won’t release any hardware product based on Windows 10 Mobile. The feature-updates of the operating system have stopped as well and according to the company, the next updates will only contain fixes and security improvements. CEO Satya Nadella said that if a new mobile device was to come in the future, it will be entirely different from what we saw until now. But there are many people who did not lose their hope about a Surface Phone, and they may be right.
A new design patent surfaced at the USPTO: a 2-in-1 device with a self-regulating hinge. This is what can be found in the description: “pair of self-regulating hinge assemblies rotatably securing hinge ends of the first and second portions around a first hinge axis associated with the first portion and a second hinge axis associated with the second hinge axis so that an extent of rotation around the first hinge axis corresponds to an extent of rotation around the second hinge axis”. The alleged Microsoft Surface Phone includes two displays which can become one, and it can also be used with a physical keyboard.
As Microsoft said goodbye to Windows 10 Mobile, this device will probably run Windows 10 on ARM and it may sport a flagship Snapdragon SoC by Qualcomm. According to rumours, Microsoft Surface Phone is actually codenamed Andromeda, and it is worth mentioning that this is not the first patent surfaced online. Another one has recently shown a prototype of a single camera which can be used on a foldable mobile device, even when its display is folded. Further, a leakster has recently found an app called Journal on Windows Whiteboard, which hints at two pages, one on the left and one of the right, for content creators. However, there is still no official declaration by the company about a Microsoft Surface Phone.
