The beauty of announcing a device that won't launch for a year is that you don't have to toss out the specs list or inner workings for the wolves to tear apart. You can build excitement first. This is what Microsoft did last week with the Surface Duo, a dual-screen device that also happens to be the company's first phone in years -- even though Microsoft says the Duo isn't actually a phone. We know the gist of the product -- an Android phone (which Microsoft denies is actually a phone) that essentially doubles your screen space to take on foldable phone design. Although we have to wait until "holiday 2020" to meet the Duo, Microsoft has certainly created a sense of hype by leaping back into the game at a time when phones that double the available screen space are seen as the next big thing in phone design. A quick flash of the Surface Duo taken from an executive's pocket, a 2-minute video and a few minutes with a non-functioning prototype were our only glimpses at the device. Microsoft's well-orchestrated teaser gives us only fragments of detail, leaving us to wonder if the Duo will come together as a device that could truly take on foldable phones like the Galaxy Fold and upcoming foldable Motorola Razr. Foldable phones aren't expected to be cheap. Samsung sells its Galaxy Fold for $1,980, and the (delayed) Huawei Mate X will go for the equivalent of $2,600. While the Surface Duo won't be a foldable phone, it achieves about the same goal by doubling up on the given screen space you have to work with for watching videos, reading, typing, and playing games. This extra screen space is the real benefit, and the Galaxy Fold proves what a convenience it is. It's a convenience you're also expected to pay for. Follow this and lots more on OUR FORUM.