Surface Phone might not come until 2017. Extinguishing the Lumia brand.

[AlTech]

You know, this reminds me of the old Mantra of Microsoft. Embrace, extend & extinguish.

 

Microsoft has a problem. They want to wipe away their Windows Phone failures and their lack of success (15 Million out of Several billion isn't exactly "selling like hot cakes"  as Microsoft intended way back in the day).

They want a clean slate, something that the Surface line of phones could offer. A clean slate with no more Lumias, 3 phones a year only and a reliance on OEM partners.

 

Microsoft wants to ready Windows 10 Mobile before releasing Surface Phone. Windows 10 Mobile isn't ready yet and it's pushing back Surface Phone. They want Surface Phone's release to coincide with Redstone 2 which is aimed to be released in Spring 2017.

 

 

They're will probably be no more Lumias ever in production and it is probably being phased out.

 

 

Quote

 

With Microsoft's Windows 10 Mobile OS continuing to be developed with new builds nearly every two weeks it seems like a good time to wonder what Microsoft's hardware intentions are going forward.

Sources close to Microsoft's plans have told me that any 'Surface phone' by Microsoft (seemy previous article for more context) won't see the light of day until sometime in 2017. The good news is there could be up to three variants for different pricing tiers and markets

 

If I hazard a guess, it sounds like Microsoft is planning to re-enter the phone space with new hardware at the same time as Windows 10 'Redstone 2.'

None of this is particularly new or shocking as Mary Jo Foley over at ZDNet recently reportedthat Redstone 2 has been pushed back to spring 2017 to line up with new Windows 10 devices being launched by the company. That pushback is reportedly due to new hardware being readied and not the OS being behind in development.

 

The 3 variants in question refer to Microsoft's idea of 3 phones per year for 3 customer segments (basically 1 phone per segment per year).

 

These segments are rumored to be: Consumer, Business and Enthusiast.

 

This is what Microsoft had to say:

 

Quote

We plan to narrow our focus to three customer segments where we can make unique contributions and where we can differentiate through the combination of our hardware and software. We'll bring business customers the best management, security and productivity experiences they need; value phone buyers the communications services they want; and Windows fans the flagship devices they'll love.

 

 

and:

 

 

Quote

In the longer term, Microsoft devices will spark innovation, create new categories and generate opportunity for the Windows ecosystem more broadly. Our reinvention will be centered on creating mobility of experiences across the entire device family including phones

 

 

Cool. So Surface Phone will actually probably be my next phone if it comes out in 2017 and you can bet that I will have my eyes on the "Enthusiast"  version.

 

http://www.windowscentral.com/surface-phone-may-come-three-versions-early-2017

[Kirky2k15]

I'm personally looking forward to ms expanding their continuum stuff, I mean look how powerful the m3-6Y30 cpu is, don't tell me they won't be able to squeeze something of similar spec/performance into a phones form factor.

 

I want a phone that I can use to hook up to a monitor and use it as a fully working office pc so it has to be x86 not arm preferably 64 bit capable since the aforementioned cpu is. Something with a 64gb emmc 4gb ram micro sd card slot and removable battery with 1440p screen etc etc not beyond the realms of possibility I think?

[AlTech]

13 minutes ago, Kirky2k15 said:

I'm personally looking forward to ms expanding their continuum stuff, I mean look how powerful the m3-6Y30 cpu is, don't tell me they won't be able to squeeze something of similar spec/performance into a phones form factor.

 

I want a phone that I can use to hook up to a monitor and use it as a fully working office pc so it has to be x86 not arm preferably 64 bit capable since the aforementioned cpu is. Something with a 64gb emmc 4gb ram micro sd card slot and removable battery with 1440p screen etc etc not beyond the realms of possibility I think?

I was actually thinking: Maybe they could underclock Core M and put it in Surface Phone. 64 Bit capable is a given. The hardware supports 64 bit but the OS doesn't yet.

[byalexandr]

DAMMIT MICROSOFT YOU ALREADY KILLED OFF MY NOKIA NOW YOU'RE GOING TO KILL OFF LUMIA IN GENERAL?!

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, byalexandr said:

DAMMIT MICROSOFT YOU ALREADY KILLED OFF MY NOKIA NOW YOU'RE GOING TO KILL OFF LUMIA IN GENERAL?!

Support will be there but they won't make new Lumia phones.

 

So RIP upgrade path.

 

to clarify: There will still be Windows Phones. Just not under the Lumia brand.

[byalexandr]

1 minute ago, AluminiumTech said:

Support will be there but they won't make new Lumia phones.

 

So RIP upgrade path.

 

to clarify: They're will still be Windows Phones. Just not under the Lumia brand.

I understand that but its basically like what they did to Nokia

[AlTech]

Just now, byalexandr said:

I understand that but its basically like what they did to Nokia

And this is a problem because? Microsoft wants to start all over again. From a marketing perspective. It's genius.

[patrick3027]

4 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

And this is a problem because? Microsoft wants to start all over again. From a marketing perspective. It's genius.

M$:

Step 1: Buy Nokia, a phone manufacturer

Step 2: Stop manufacturing phones

 

Explain to me which part of that is 'genius'

[AlTech]

Just now, patrick3027 said:

M$:

Step 1: Buy Nokia, a phone manufacturer

Step 2: Stop manufacturing phones

 

Explain to me which part of that is 'genius'

Nobody said they would stop making phone.

 

They will stop making phones with the "Lumia" brand.

All future phones will be "Surface" phones.

 

[patrick3027]

3 minutes ago, AluminiumTech said:

Nobody said they would stop making phone.

 

They will stop making phones with the "Lumia" brand.

All future phones will be "Surface" phones.

 

So they stop making phones under the Lumia brand and future phones will be carrying a 'Surface' name. These 'Surface' phones won't hit the market until 2017.

 

By deduction, 0 (zero) new Microsoft/Nokia/Lumia/Surface phones will be coming out this year.

[iamdarkyoshi]

I really want a desktop oriented experiance on mobile. I've had it with every damn program on android that adds basic functionality (like SENDING DOCUMENTS TO A FREAKING NETWORK PRINTER) having to be made by a third party and requiring IAP's...

[atrash]

38 minutes ago, patrick3027 said:

So they stop making phones under the Lumia brand and future phones will be carrying a 'Surface' name. These 'Surface' phones won't hit the market until 2017.

 

By deduction, 0 (zero) new Microsoft/Nokia/Lumia/Surface phones will be coming out this year.

The 950/950XL only went on sale like just over 3 months ago. And the 650 and 550 came out this year. You actually expect them to produce another phone in less than 12 months? Just get the current Lumia and enjoy them or wait for the Surface phone next year.

[patrick3027]

1 hour ago, atrash said:

The 950/950XL only went on sale like just over 3 months ago. And the 650 and 550 came out this year. You actually expect them to produce another phone in less than 12 months? Just get the current Lumia and enjoy them or wait for the Surface phone next year.

The 550 came out last year. This means the only 2016 Microsoft phone we got this year is the Lumia 650, a phone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212.

 

Not putting out a flagship the one year Qualcomm got their act together (with the SD 820) seems like a risky (read: stupid) idea.

 

Of course I expect them to churn out a flagship every 12 months, because that's what every fucking phone manufacturer does. The only phone manufacturer which didn't do so recently is Xiaomi with the Mi5 which was launched 18 months after the Mi 4 (due to the SD 808/810 disaster). Xiaomi knew this was a pretty risky business decision, that's why they released several phones in their 'Note' line to fill the gap.

 

[goodtofufriday]

Give continuum Domain join support and I dont care what phone its on, im buying. 

[Doobeedoo]

Nice, good idea they're making Surface Phone for sure. More focus on apps and they'll have time to polish OS for it. Also releasing Surface Phone with x86 and more polished W10 will be great. Looking forward to this phone!

[AlTech]

6 hours ago, patrick3027 said:

The 550 came out last year. This means the only 2016 Microsoft phone we got this year is the Lumia 650, a phone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212.

 

Not putting out a flagship the one year Qualcomm got their act together (with the SD 820) seems like a risky (read: stupid) idea.

 

Of course I expect them to churn out a flagship every 12 months, because that's what every fucking phone manufacturer does. The only phone manufacturer which didn't do so recently is Xiaomi with the Mi5 which was launched 18 months after the Mi 4 (due to the SD 808/810 disaster). Xiaomi knew this was a pretty risky business decision, that's why they released several phones in their 'Note' line to fill the gap.

 

Doesn't matter. Surface Phone will use x86-64. Not Arm. So QUALCOMM chips are out of the question. And FYI a Snapdragon 212 is fine unless you do lots of gaming. Personally all I wanted was a 617 and 2GB RAM. I would be perfect with that and I expected the 650 to have that. But I was wrong.

 

[Sharp_3yE]

Just want to say, guys don't expect that the phone will use an x86 or x64 processor. While most likely they want a phone to use that, it makes a lot of sense but the actual processor that would work in a phone size may not be here yet.

It is still more likely to be an Arm processor. We will find out in the future but I would say lower your expectations on this for now until it gets officially announced with an x64 or x86 chip.

 

Also, inside Microsoft they aren't calling it a "Surface phone" but a "Panos" phone. Panos Panay is  Corporate VP of Microsoft and the head of the devices division at Microsoft. He is the guy calling the shots on hardware design and making sure everything has a good design with every little detail for their finished product.

[ltguy]

Windows phone is just having windows rt issues. No one wants a crippled version of windows. If they want to make a surface phone... then go for it. Just make a phone that's basically a hp stream 7 with full version windows on it, and a cellular modem. I'd buy 2. Lets go back to the windows mobile days where I had a nomal looking desktop with start bar and resizable app windows. Windows will never compete with android or apple in the app market so they should just stop trying and give us a phone that runs all the windows apps. Windows phone 10 will be a failure just like windows rt was a failure unless they realize windows users, whether a deskop, tablet, or phone user, want as much of the full windows experience as they can get (both ui and app compatibility).

[Pesmerga]

Good luck to the new Surface phones. I hope they'll handle them better to what they did with the lumias

[SansVarnic]

On 4/6/2016 at 1:11 PM, patrick3027 said:

The 550 came out last year. This means the only 2016 Microsoft phone we got this year is the Lumia 650, a phone with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212.

 

Not putting out a flagship the one year Qualcomm got their act together (with the SD 820) seems like a risky (read: stupid) idea.

 

Of course I expect them to churn out a flagship every 12 months, because that's what every fucking phone manufacturer does. The only phone manufacturer which didn't do so recently is Xiaomi with the Mi5 which was launched 18 months after the Mi 4 (due to the SD 808/810 disaster). Xiaomi knew this was a pretty risky business decision, that's why they released several phones in their 'Note' line to fill the gap.

 

MS fiscal year starts in October. So technically they shipped 3 phones this year. 

The 950XL has the SD 810 but yeah it should have had the 820.

[patrick3027]

4 hours ago, SansVarnic said:

MS fiscal year starts in October. So technically they shipped 3 phones this year. 

The 950XL has the SD 810 but yeah it should have had the 820.

If you start counting from October, it should be 4 phones: 550, 650, 950 and 950XL.

 

Anyway, I think when people are using the term 'this year', they refer to the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, not the fiscal year of a company. So when I say that M$ will only release one overpriced low-end phone this year, the 650, I'm right.

[SansVarnic]

16 hours ago, patrick3027 said:

If you start counting from October, it should be 4 phones: 550, 650, 950 and 950XL.

 

Anyway, I think when people are using the term 'this year', they refer to the period from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, not the fiscal year of a company. So when I say that M$ will only release one overpriced low-end phone this year, the 650, I'm right.

Ok, I forgot the 550.  

The 605 is only $190.00 USD not what I would call overpriced.