Surface Phone Confirmed? Microsoft CEO Gushes About Windows Phone Hardware Plans

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has revealed that the tech company has not given up on its smartphone business yet. He even said that the Redmond giant will be releasing more phones in the future, and they are going to be very different from the ones predominantly seen in the tech industry at present. Is this perhaps Nadella’s way of confirming the long-rumored Surface Phone?

Just recently, Nadella had an interview with MarketPlace to talk about “Minecraft” and H-1B visas. Interestingly, the CEO also discussed what Microsoft is planning for its phone business. When touching on the company’s strategy for future phone hardware, Nadella straightforwardly confirmed that they are looking to create handsets that would break the mold much like what the Surface products are doing.

“We make phones today, we have OEMs like HP making phones and others and we picked a very specific area to focus on which is management, security, and this one particular feature that we have called Continuum, which is a phone that can even be a desktop,” the Microsoft CEO said. “And at this point, we’re making sure that all of our software is available on iOS and Android and it’s first class, and we’re looking for what’s the next change in form and function. What we’ve done with Surface is a good example.”

READ: Microsoft Surface Laptop features, specs, price revealed

Nadella then added that no one had actually thought of manufacturing 2-in-1 devices until they did when they introduced the Surface series to the market. He pointed out that after establishing this category of devices more and more 2-in-1s just kept on coming. Because of this, he said that they are also thinking of doing the same thing with their future phone releases. “So in some sense when you say will we’ll make more phones, I’m sure we’ll make more phones, but they may not look like phones that are there today,” he quipped.

Windows Central pointed out that given Nadella’s recent statements, it is very likely that Microsoft would be leveraging on the Surface brand in any future phone device it is releasing. Of course this will not come as a surprise, especially now that the company has introduced its Surface Laptop, a portable personal computer that runs its Chrome OS competitor called Windows 10 S.

Even though consumers cannot expect a first-party phone from Microsoft this year, there have been all sorts of speculations on what the company is planning to release. MSPowerUser reports that most rumors are claiming that the Redmond giant is working on a flexible or possibly a foldable handset that is capable of running full Windows 10 apps.

Forbes has also reported that since Windows Phone may already be dead, Microsoft is now gearing up for the release of its rumored Surface Phone. The business magazine even cited a patent for a foldable device as confirmation that the company could be up to something. However, just like everyone else, Forbes also does not have absolute information on when can consumers expect the Surface Phone to arrive.