The foldable smartphone market didn’t get off to the start many expected. Samsung Galaxy Fold was postponed after a series of design flaws and Huawei Mate X has also been postponed until September 2019 in order to do more tests on the device.
Despite the shaky start to life, stories about new players working on foldable handhelds haven’t stopped popping up and the latest mentions one of the biggest tech companies in the world – Microsoft.
Microsoft better identifies itself with Windows OS, but according to the latest reports, the company’s continued push into the Android ecosystem is said to be getting renewed efforts courtesy of a foldable Microsoft Surface slated to arrive in 2020.
It’s not the first time stories of a foldable Microsoft Surface device are showing up, but things are now becoming a little clearer. While speaking to Forbes, Britain’s IHS Markit, citing “supply chain info”, claims that Microsoft is working on a smaller Surface device internally known as “Centaurus” and will rely on the upcoming foldable-friendly Windows Lite, a version of Windows Core OS, as well as support Android and iCloud apps.
If the IHS Markit is to be believed, the said foldable Surface device will come with a dual 9-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio and internally, always-on LTE or even 5G support will be among the major highlights.
Apparently, this device will arrive in the first half of 2020, but word on the street is that Microsoft will tease the device at its October 2019 hardware event.
We’ve seen Google bringing support for Android apps to Chromebooks, so it doesn’t surprise us that Microsoft would want to include support for Android apps on its upcoming Surface.
After years of trying to compete, Microsoft is slowly embracing the Android ecosystem. In a recent interview, Bill Gates admits that his biggest mistake ever was Microsoft losing to Android.
