The Surface Duo Running Android Is A Gorgeous Way To Admit Microsoft's Defeat To Google

We've been hearing rumours for a while about Microsoft coming out with a smartphone. And now we know that to be true.

Microsoft is indeed building a new smartphone. Most importantly though, it'll run on Android, and will have a foldable dual screen design.

Images courtesy: Microsoft/YouTube

Called the Surface Duo, the device has two 5.6-inch screens that attach via a hinge along their length to form a wider 8.3-inch display.. It'll use the Snapdragon 855 Arm processor, though not much else is known about the device specifications.

The cool thing about that display though is that it's connected by a 360-degree hinge. When it's folded shut with the screen touching, is when the screen powers off. Opening it up will probably be the wake move, at which point you can use it like a widescreen tablet.

But then you can also fold it all the way back, at which point it seems to shift into phone display mode while the rear display powers off. We're not sure yet if that's always the same screen active in phone mode, but it's possible Microsoft has fitted the device with sensors, so turning it over will shift to the other screen activating.

What you can expect though is that the rear display will activate in the camera app, given that there looks to be only a single camera on the front of the right-hand panel. So that way, though selfies will be like normal, turning the phone around to click a photo of someone else will turn the previously off left-hand panel (to the rear) into your viewfinder display.

Microsoft hardware chief Panos Panay also announced that the company has worked with Google on the device, meaning you will have apps and google services that will especially take advantage of this dual-screen setup. One interesting feature for instance looks to have the device open, with the screens facing each other at right angles, where the top acts as a screen for a game you're playing and the bottom turns into a digital gamepad controller.

Whatever this device looks like though, this announcement is a big step for Microsoft. It's had a checkered history with mobiles in the past, ever since its Lumia series failed to take off. Windows had a partnership with Nokia back in 2011, so the Lumia series would be exclusive Windows Phone devices, and they seemed to be doing okay at the time. But Nokia failed to make profits, and their Devices and Services division were eventually acquired by Microsoft for a whopping Rs 41,000 crore in 2014. Then of course, two years later, Microsoft had to shut that down too, facing a steep decline in sales for Lumia, selling off the franchise to HMD Global.

HMD Global has since pivoted to Android as well with its devices, but this will be the first time Microsoft is going there. It's a resounding admission of defeat for the once ambitious plan that was Windows Phone. Instead, the company seems to have realised its strength is not in a standalone OS for smartphones, but rather the services and sychronization it can offer with Windows with apps like the Microsoft Your Phone app.

More importantly tough, it's a win for Google, as this is the closest Microsoft will come to saying that Android is the future of mobile, which is something Bill Gates says he regrets to this day.

Given all of that, this will still be an uphill battle for Microsoft, winning back the customers now leery of a Microsoft smartphone. It might help though that this device looks really nicely built. Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Fold, Microsoft has no problems with two screens separated by a hinge and bezels, so it's automatically more durable and problem-free. And with that stellar build comes support for Android apps as well as connectivity with Windows PCs, so this device might actually have a decent shot at the newly-developing foldable phone market.

We still don't know how much this device will cost yet, but it's expected to hit the market starting 2020.