Microsoft's Surface Duo spotted in the wild

[Karlston]

Microsoft's Surface Duo spotted in the wild

Back in October, Microsoft finally announced a Surface phone. But this phone has two screens, it runs Android, and it's called the Surface Duo. As far as the hardware goes, Microsoft hasn't confirmed much more than that, although the company has elaborated on the software quite a bit.

 

Today though, one was spotted in the wild on Vancouver's SkyTrain. In itself, this isn't particularly surprising. This is a smartphone in a new form factor, and it's made by a company that has little experience making phones. That means that it has to be tested everywhere, on different networks, and in different use cases. In fact, a moving train is the perfect place for real-world network testing.

 

 

One thing that you'll see in the image, and wasn't known before, is that there seems to be a camera flash on top of the screen. If that's what it actually is, and assuming that this is a near-final version of the product, then Microsoft probably isn't putting a dedicated camera on the back of the cover. You'll have to fold the display all the way back to use that as a rear camera.

 

This idea sort of makes sense. After all, there's not much use in having a camera on the outside while the device is closed; there'd be no viewfinder. Of course, while it's open, that's another story.

 

Microsoft still says that the Surface Duo is launching this holiday season, although Windows Central's Zac Bowden tells another story. According to Zac, this thing might arrive earlier than expected, and there's really no reason that it couldn't. It's really just a smartphone with two screens and a custom launcher. Perhaps Microsoft will start seeding it to developers around the time of Build this May, for a launch later on this year.

 

 

Source: Microsoft's Surface Duo spotted in the wild (Neowin)

[duddy]

Microsoft Surface Shock As ‘All-New’ Surface Duo Revealed

 

Microsoft's Chief Product Officer Panos Panay holds a Surface Duo at an event, Wednesday, Oct. 2, ... [+]  ASSOCIATED PRESS

 

One of the advantages of Microsoft announcing the twin-screened Surface Duo and Surface Neo devices in October 2019 was that the occasional leaked image or specification would not be the story. Instead they would add to a story that Microsoft has started telling. Ahead of the expected Q4 2020 retail release, each new piece of information already has a foundation to be placed on.

 

So it goes with the latest images of the Android-powered Surface Duo. A series of subtle camera snaps shows the Surface Duo in the wild, specifically the Sky Train in Vancouver. And it’s a new device, with improvements over the Surface Duo shown to the press last year.

 

The device is open, showing the launcher and home screen in the left hand screen, with a text document on the right. It then moves to portrait mode to see the full text document.

It is then closed with the screens on the outside so the user can play a game in landscape mode, before switching back to the text document in landscape mode in the single screen. A forward facing camera above the screen can also be spotted.

 

As the device is then closed to be put the screens inside the hinge, the Microsoft logo is loving stroked and polished, before the video ends.

 

Youtuber’ Israel Rodriguez has compiled the pictures and video on YouTube.

 

Given the reveal of the Duo in October saw Microsoft’s Panos Panay demonstrating the software (albeit with a very limited set of applications and interactions - which is what you would expect from an early unit), it does not surprise me that Microsoft will have a number of units available to employees. Obviously those working on the Windows 10X software for dual-screened devices need test devices, but user data will be gathered from other Microsoft employees using the devices as their day to day drivers.

 

The simplest answer is that this is one of the ‘dog food’ devices being used by a staff member (or perhaps a very well trusted third-party developer).

 

 

Source

 

 

[Karlston]

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