Microsoft made a surprise launch of its newest smartphone, the Surface Duo which features two screens that fold around a hinge placed in the middle alongside the larger Surface Neo tablet.
In a report published by The Verge, Microsoft announced that the Surface Duo will be running Android while the Surface Neo will be running Windows 10X.
The Surface Duo comes in two 5.6-inch displays that fold out into an 8.3-inch overall screen, is 4.8mm thin, and can be folded like other 2-in-1 laptops through its 360-degree hinge.
Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay said: “I feel like ‘phone’ is such a limiting word. And then you say, ‘well, smartphone.’ I don’t even know what that means. And then ‘phablet.’ I’m not sure what that is. I think if you’re going to create a new category, you’re going to try to change things, push things forward. The minute you put it in a box, I think you’re lost. So I’ve been pretty resistant to that. Not because it doesn’t act like a great phone.”
According to Panay, the Surface Duo runs Android because of users’ app preferences.
“Because there’s hundreds of thousands of apps, and you want them. And [Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella] and I talked about it, and it’s about meeting our customers where they are, where they’re going to be. I don’t think the mobile application platform’s going anywhere anytime soon,” said Panay.
Both the Surface Duo and Neo are expected to roll out in late 2020.
(Photo source: theverge.com/ cnet.com)
