Microsoft Makes a Grand Re-entry into the Smartphone Market with the Unveiling of its Foldable Surface Duo

Earlier today during the last moments of Microsoft’s Surface Event which held in New York City, the tech giant allowed participants to get the first view of its new foldable smartphone called Surface Duo.

Surface Duo is different from its Microsoft’s smartphone predecessors, in that it does not use the windows Operating System but runs on Android. It has access to the entirety of the Google Playstore.

According to Chief Product Officer, Mr Panos Panay, Microsoft is partnering with Google to roll out a stream of new and awesome Android features to make the Duo one of a kind. The Duo will be officially launched sometime in 2020.

We’re partnering with Google to bring together the absolute best of Android into one product,”

Panos Panay, Microsoft chief product officer

The Duo comes with a rounded surface which is similar to that of the Surface Neo, which was also exhibited at the event. The smartphone comes with dual 5.6-inch displays which are attached by a hinge capable of rotating 360 degrees. It also comes with a Snapdragon 855 processor.

When folded together, the display size is 8-inches. The logo for the Microsoft Surface line is etched in glass around the hood of the phone. The Surface Duo also comes with a Surface pen and a keyboard that folds over one of the dual screens.

At the Surface event, Microsoft made it clear that developers would start building apps for the Surface Duo prior to its official launch during the 2020 holiday.

“We want to bring our fans on the journey, but we also want to bring developers on our journey with us.”

Panos Panay

While Panos was a bit reticent to call the Surface Duo a phone onstage during the event, the new development is a positive and much-anticipated one for Microsoft. It comes after a quiet retreat from the smartphone industry in recent years.