Author Topic: This is Surface Duo; Microsoft's Android Phone  (Read 332 times)

Offline javajolt

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This is Surface Duo; Microsoft's Android Phone
« on: October 02, 2019, 06:50:03 PM »
Yes, Microsoft will release a dual-screen Android phone

Microsoft is making an Android phone. And it has two screens.

The Windows software maker showed off its device, called the Surface Duo, Wednesday at an event in New York. The company said the two screens would make users more productive, and it showed a video of people using a stylus with the phone.

It didn't provide many details about the Surface Duo -- which joins another, larger dual-screen device, the Surface Neo -- but said it will be available in holiday 2020.

By partnering with Google, the device will be able to run apps from the Google Play Store.

"This product brings together the absolute best of Microsoft, and we're partnering with Google to bring the absolute best of Android in one product," Microsoft Product Chief Panos Panay said. "This is industry pushing technology."

Microsoft tried for over two decades to make operating systems for mobile phones, but it gave up on the effort two years ago. It couldn't compete with the popularity of Google's Android and Apple's iOS, which will be on 87% and 13% of the world's smartphones this year, respectively, according to IDC. Instead, Microsoft has opted to expand its Office software and other services to rival devices, including iPhones. The company's first Android phone takes that further.

Getting back into phones won't be easy. There are really only three companies who sell devices in huge numbers and make any money from their smartphones -- Samsung, Huawei, and Apple. In the second quarter, 22% of smartphones shipped in the world were made by Samsung, 17% by Huawei and 11% by Apple, according to Strategy Analytics. No one else cracked 10%, though Chinese vendors Xiaomi and Oppo came close. It's highly unlikely that Microsoft, with an Android phone, would ever become a major phone vendor.


Microsoft is betting on dual screens as the future of computing.
Microsoft isn't the first company to make a smartphone with two displays -- but it's hoping to be the first that's really successful. ZTE's Axom M hit the market in 2017 but didn't exactly spark a trend. LG earlier this year showed off a Dual Screen attachment for its first 5G phone, the V50, as well as a version for its LG G8X ThinQ phone. But LG's device hasn't generated the same buzz as foldable phones from Samsung and Huawei and even rumored foldables from companies like Motorola.

While Microsoft is betting that dual screens is the future, most other companies in the phone market are counting on foldable displays. Nearly every major handset maker is rumored to be working on a foldable device.

source
« Last Edit: October 02, 2019, 06:51:19 PM by javajolt »