Panos Panay, the chief product officer at Microsoft, is leaving the company after nearly 20 years. Panay’s departure comes at a critical time for Microsoft, as it is preparing to launch a new generation of Surface devices on September 21.

In an email to employees, Rajesh Jha, Microsoft’s vice president of experience and devices, said that Panay “has decided to leave Microsoft after nearly 20 years.” Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, commented on the departure, saying:

Panay joined Microsoft in 2004 and quickly rose through the ranks. He was instrumental in the development of the Surface line of devices, which debuted in 2012. The Surface line includes a variety of devices, including laptops, tablets, and desktops. 

In 2018, Panay was promoted to chief product officer of Microsoft. In this role, he was responsible for overseeing the development of both hardware and software products. He played a key role in the development of Windows 11, which was released in 2021.

Panay is known for his passion for products and his ability to connect with customers. He is also known for his ability to create a culture of innovation and collaboration within Microsoft.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Panay says “he’s “decided to turn the page and write the next chapter,” adding that he’s “forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the amazing people I had the honor to make products with.”

Microsoft has announced that Panay’s many roles will be taken on by different people. Pavan Davuluri will continue to oversee the development of experiences across Windows, client, and cloud devices. Microsoft is also creating a new Windows and Web Experiences Team, with members such as Shilpa Ranganathan and Jeff Jonhson reporting to Mikhail Parakhin. Finally, Yusuf Mehdi will take on the role of managing the Windows and Surface businesses with OEM and retail partners.

What’s next for Panos?

Well, it doesn’t take long to figure out where he’s going next. According to Bloomberg, Panay is joining Amazon to lead its Alexa and Echo division. He will replace Dave Limp, the Amazon executive previously in charge of Alexa and Echo, who announced his retirement last month.

Limp left big shoes to fill, but Panay is a well-respected executive with a proven track record. It’s not clear what Panay’s job title will be at Amazon, and both companies declined to comment on Bloomberg’s report. Ironically, both Amazon and Microsoft have fall hardware events scheduled this week. So it will be interesting to see how Panay’s move impacts the two companies.

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(Via)

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Last year, Microsoft had unveiled its two upcoming devices featuring dual displays — Surface Neo and Surface Duo. While the Surface Neo has been postponed by the company, the Surface Duo is expected to official pretty soon.

In fact, details about the Surface Duo keeps surfacing online as the launch of the device nears. Now, in the latest development, Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer at Microsoft, showcased the Surface Duo.

I'm pretty pumped too, John. pic.twitter.com/j0TmKtj6DG

— Panos Panay (@panos_panay) July 1, 2020

From the image shared by him, the device seems to be a bit different from what the company showcased as a prototype last year. It also seems that the device Panos Panay is using has a bumper case installed.

This is a major indication that the device is indeed nearing launch. There has been speculation about the Surface Duo getting launched in the coming weeks or months and go on sale during the holiday season this year. But the company has not yet confirmed the launch date for the same.

A recent report has revealed that the device will come with two equal-sized 5.6-inch AMOLED display panels — each screen offering a 4:3 aspect ratio, 1800 x 1350 pixels resolution, and 401ppi pixel density.

EDITOR’S PICK: Check out AnTuTu’s top 10 best performing flagship and mid-range phones for June 2020

In the software department, the device will be running Android 10 operating system out-of-the-box with the company’s own Microsoft Launcher on top. As per the reports, the company is working on apps that will come pre-installed. Microsoft also seems to have worked on a way to make the user experience better with dual screens for apps.

While we were expecting Surface Duo to come with the latest Snapdragon 865 chipset, it has been revealed that the device will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 SoC, thus there will be no 5G connectivity support.

The device will come packed with 6GB of RAM and 64/256GB of internal storage. It will feature an 11-megapixel camera sensor and the phone also has a fingerprint sensor for added security. Powering the device will be a 3,460mAh battery.

UP NEXT: Motorola One Fusion gets a silent launch; packs HD+ screen, SD710 SoC, and a 5000mAh battery

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