Microsoft Surface Phone release date: new phone intended for business sector?

Twitter courtesy of Microsoft Surface

It has long been rumored that Microsoft will be releasing a new Surface Phone. Many imagine this to be some sort of a smaller version of the highly successful Surface Pro hybrid computer, with powerful features fit to be used by people in the corporate world. There are conflicting rumors about this, however.

According to Vine Report, the rumored device might not be able to support Windows 10 Continuum if it uses an overclocked quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset. It is said that having an ARM or Advanced RISC Machine build would hinder the device's capability to run traditional Windows programs, although it may still be able to support apps from the Windows Store. The report suggests that having an Intel or AMD x86 CPU would be able to do the job.

Nonetheless, the device is still expected to sport some fine hardware, with the report saying that an 8GB RAM and 512GB storage could be part of the package.

Meanwhile, Tech Times reports that the phone is meant for a specific market, that is, the business sector. Taking cues from their experience with Windows 10 for desktops, the company is taking it a step further.

"[W]e'll lead with some high end and category innovation like we've done with Surface, and OEMs will go and build the breadth of the catalog," said Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Windows Kevin Gallo, as quoted by Tech Times.

The device could have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB storage, and, the report says it will support Windows 10 Continuum.

There is no release date yet for the Microsoft Surface Phone, but speculations suggest that it will come out in 2017. It is also not yet known if it will also cater to the masses or will be primarily for those in the corporate world.