After high-profile flops, Microsoft Corp is getting back into smartphones with a dual-screen Android device that is not to be out for another year.
At a product event on Wednesday in New York City, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Duo as part of a new lineup of Surface computers. It marks a reversal for a company that abandoned smartphones following lackluster demand for its own operating system and an ill-fated purchase of smartphone maker Nokia Oyj.
The company said that the Duo makes telephone calls, although it stopped short of calling it a phone.
Photo: Bloomberg
Although it runs Android, the back of the prototype has a Surface logo that resembles Windows and the company prefers to call the Duo just another Surface device.
Microsoft also announced a dual-screen Surface Neo tablet, which also is not to be out until late next year.
The company said in a blog post that other manufacturers — including Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), Dell Inc, HP Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) — would also make dual-screen and foldable devices using a variant of Windows called 10X.
Both Surface devices feature two screens connected with a hinge and can fold like laptops.
They can display separate apps side by side or a single app stretched across both screens. They are technologically less ambitious than foldable phones from Samsung Electronics Co and others, whose screens actually bend as the devices close. Some of those folding phones have experienced technical difficulties.
The Duo is about the size of a large smartphone when folded, with two 5.6-inch displays, while the folded Neo is similar in size to a small tablet, such as the iPad Mini or an Amazon Fire.
The devices are initially to be available only for developers who create and test apps. Microsoft plans to start selling them during next year’s holiday season. The company offered no details on price.
Available sooner are US$249 Surface Earbuds, as Microsoft joins Apple Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Google and others in making wireless listening devices.
Microsoft also unveiled two new Surface Pro tablets and a refreshed laptop on Wednesday.
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