Rumors of a high-end Surface Phone made by Microsoft have been floating around for a while now, and today a new one surfaced that claims that we’ll see the flagship Windows phone within the next year.
Microsoft is aiming to launch the Surface Phone by April 2017, according to a report from Windows Central. Spec details of the device are largely non-existent, but it’s said that Microsoft wants the Surface Phone to be the most secure smartphone in the world and the best at productivity.
It’s also rumored that Microsoft has took Windows 10 updates in the works that are largely focused on mobile. While the next update, codenamed Redstone 1 and officially named Windows 10 Anniversary update, will come this summer with many new PC features, Redstone 2 and Redstone 3 will allegedly offer “innovation around mobile phones.” No specific features have been named, but it sounds like the two updates will place a heavy emphasis on smartphones.
Things have been a bit rough for fans of Windows phones right now, with sales of Lumia phones declining and Microsoft offering a BOGO deal on its two current flagships. Despite that, though, today’s rumor suggests that Microsoft is planning to give its mobile platform some more love in the future.
We don’t know exactly what specs the Surface Phone will offer, but previous reports pegged it as a “premium flagship phone” being headed up by Surface creator Panos Panay, so it could be a pretty solid smartphone. Windows phone fans will just have to continue to exercise patience or get another Windows phones, like the Lumia 950 or Acer Liquid Jade Primo, to tide them over.