Microsoft Windows and Lumia Supporters Look Forward To Surface Phone

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is nowhere near out of its league when it comes to user interfaces and operating systems (OS) . The Windows platform is immense and widespread. This is especially true when one considers the vast Windows support base behind the OS. We can however run a long list of Windows OS achievements only to hit a wall when it comes to mobile. There is a noticeable rise in the appeal of MFST hardware, particularly the Surface range. But Microsoft continues to have difficulty pleasing the masses with its smartphone ventures.

The Surface Phone is rumored to be Microsoft's handset salvation. The next smartphone you buy could be just as powerful as your home computer. There isn't a company out there more aware of this than the U.S. software giant. Encasing this idea, the incoming Surface Phone is reported to offer desktop-like power in the palm of your hand. Only now we hear that the gadget won't make an appearance until at least 2018.

Sliding in the Surface Phone's stead this year is another 2017 Windows Phone. While the name of this device is still in the wind, experts have speculated that a newer variant of the Lumia range could launch in the next few months.

Although Microsoft Corporation is making considerable gains with its hardware, the company's position in the mobile gadget space isn't so hot. The adoption of Nokia's smartphone business took several billions away from the firm back in 2014. Microsoft is almost three years into the venture and is yet to see the devices take off.

Too late for Surface Phone to succeed?

What deters people from the products has little to do with their specs. In fact, numerous Lumia fans frequently share their love for the devices. With Google's Android and Apple's iOS raking up the bulk of smartphone market, there is very little love left for Windows as a mobile platform. This calls into question whether Microsoft's next set of handsets should run Windows?

"I sincerely think its too late for Microsoft to succeed in the smartphone business no matter what they come up with," comments a reader going by Osokona. "No one is going to switch their investment in iPhhones and aPhone and switch to wPhones. My last Windows phone was an HTC Kaiser when MS abandoned us. Even Skype refused to develop for the MS mobile platform. That was the last drop for me."

Although Windows 10 Mobile has its share of avid fans, the mobile platform has a difficult time securing the appeal of many. It shares a lot of the traits that sent the BlackBerry mobile OS crashing to the ground. BlackBerry was eventually forced to give in to Android due to the restrictive nature of their in-house OS. Similarly, Windows Mobile is lax when it comes to keeping up with the market. This is pushed further by the platforms lack of apps, which only make Windows Mobile unable to keep up with other mobile OS.

Surface Phone doomed to fail?

"I am an user of Nokia/MS Lumia phones for 4 years now," explains a LearnBonds commenter. "No doubt the OS is very well-designed and stable, particularly Windows 10 to which I upgraded a few months back. But of late, I face problems when some of the apps I need to use for financial or banking transactions are either not available or have a poorly-designed version for Windows platform compared to the same app for Android or IOS. Unless MS takes initiative to resolve this problem (by asking users to intimate their need and use their vast pool of programmers to assist in developing a good Windows equivalent), the day is not far off when I will reluctantly switch to an Android phone."

There are those who have shared the same sentiments. Clearly Microsoft has a lot to work on if it chooses to roll the Surface Phone out as a Windows Phone. According to a report by Droid Report, the greatest reason behind the Surface Phone's delay is the state of the mobile Windows OS. Creating a holistic Windows ecosystem could do wonders for the platform, but there is little love for Windows as a mobile OS at the moment and a lot of work to do in order to get it up to standard. The biggest challenge for the Surface Phone will be convincing users that Windows is no longer a sluggish, ill-maintained mobile operating system.

A PC in your pocket

"What we are going to do is focus [our] effort on places that have differentiation." Nadella said. "If you take Windows Phone, where we are differentiated in Windows Phone, its manageability, its security, its Continuum capability, that is the ability to have a phone that, in fact, can even act like a PC."

Speculation hints at the Surface Phone being a unique, multi-use device with desktop-level processing. It could revive the QWERTY keyboard or make use of a foldout pad similar to the Surface Pro lineup. It is bound to be a Windows Phone as well. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is under a lot of pressure to amplify the appeal of the Windows 10 platform on mobile. The HP Elite x3 is said to be a big hint at where Microsoft plans to take Windows Phones. HP's device is a Windows phone, too. It serves as a perfect example of a smartphone with PC-like capacity.

That being said, there are many folks itching for the Surface Phone to come out as a Windows Phone. These people argue that the software is brilliant, and that an attractive piece of hardware is all it take take to turns Windows Phones into serious competitors.

Excited for Microsoft Surface Phone

"I'm very excited for a Surface Phone," writes A. Brennan. "As an area supervisor for a security company, I have to keep up with multiple incidents that happen at different client locations. My Lumia 920 was a beast. If the Surface Phone is [affordable] I would buy one in a heartbeat, pending paychecks, of course."

Nixter writes that "It is clear that the Microsoft Windows Phone OS is mature, stable and secure. With a firm foundation to build on, a truly innovative design could grab a worthwhile market share. The direction that Windows Phones are going is being the best business phone out there for enterprise users."

Microsoft's new push in the smartphone market could come in the form of a Surface device. Nadella admits that his company had to go back to the drawing board with new ideas driving the design and function of their next set of handsets.

"We don't want to be driven buy just envy of what others have," the CEO explained to AFR. "What can we bring? That's where I look at any device form factor or any technology, even AI."

A great push for Microsoft

Looking at the attraction that the Surface gadgets, adding a smartphone to the lineup could prove to be a good move for Microsoft. The products are all shades of innovations and seem to appeal to the world's hunger for premium tech that defies ordinary conventions. Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Surface gadgets come as something fresh and new. They are a renewed take on what personal and business gadgets should essentially offer.

Whether buyers are in search of the ideal personal, creative or business PC, they needn't look any further than the Surface Book, Surface Pro and Surface Studio to find a gadget that is capable of tasks beyond the capacity of conventional hardware.

Source: Microsoft Windows and Lumia Supporters Look Forward To Surface Phone