Microsoft Surface Phone release date, specs rumors: announcement from tech giant on 2017 release coming next month?

A Microsoft logo is seen on an office building in New York City, July 28, 2015.Reuters/Mike Segar

Everybody believes that Microsoft will bring out a smartphone. Gone are the days of the Lumia series, and the company will now concentrate on the Surface series. There are speculations that the tech giant could surprise the community during the IFA event, or the Surface Phone could also be unveiled next month and released in early 2017

Many are speculating that the Microsoft Surface Phone will be unveiled at the ongoing IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) 2016, but it is likely that only the Microsoft Band 3 will be the only one there. A more appropriate venue would be its own media event that is likely to happen in October, where the Surface Pro 5 is expected to be unveiled as well.

It was originally thought that the Surface Phone will have a strong resemblance with the Surface tablet, featuring an aluminum and magnesium body. It is speculated to arrive with 5.5 or 5.7-inch AMOLED display that offers 2560 x 1440 pixel resolution. It may have 3GB or 4GB of RAM, with different internal memory variant, starting at 64GB up to 128GB. Other rumors also suggest that a variant with 8GB of RAM and 512 of internal storage could also happen.

Several possible processors could power the alleged device, a 64-bit Intel processor, possibly the Apollo Lake or Qualcomms's powerful processors such as the Snapdragon 821 or 820. The Snapdragon 830 has also been whispered to arrive with the device. Camera optics are said to be taken care of by Carl Zeiss, offering 21MP on the back and 8MP wide-angle on the front. Other features include a USB-C port, a Surface Pen, a kick stand, and wireless charging. A Windows 10 Mobile operating system will definitely come with it.

For the price range, the basic model of the Microsoft Surface phone could have a US$700 price tag and could easily go up to US$1,000 for the higher-specced model.

Microsoft has not issued anything official concerning its upcoming smartphone.