Microsoft’s Head Of Devices Interviewed, Denies Existence Of Surface Phone

Surface brainchild Panos Panay was interviewed by GeekWire, where he briefly, among other topics, addresses the possibility of a Surface Phone. What features would a Surface Phone need to get your interest?

Microsoft’s Panos Panay is known as the executive responsible for the company’s Surface lineup, which has expanded this year with the introduction of the Surface Book laptop. But since earlier this year, he has also taken on a broader role overseeing the company’s devices, including the Microsoft Band, the company’s smartphone lineup and the HoloLens blended reality device.

Removable battery, removable storage, customizable homescreen (read: something I can actually have a wallpaper on, and not a giant clutter of icons and buttons.) , and an app store that doesn't suck. Get me these things all in one phone, and I'll hunt down a non-Android replacement for my S5 today.

SamuraiInBlack said:

Removable battery, removable storage, customizable homescreen (read: something I can actually have a wallpaper on, and not a giant clutter of icons and buttons.) , and an app store that doesn't suck. Get me these things all in one phone, and I'll hunt down a non-Android replacement for my S5 today.

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Windows 10 Mobile supports wallpapers, transparent titles and tile folders. Actually this stuff was in Windows 8.1. The base Windows 10 Mobile OS is pretty solid for phones but yes, the app situation is the biggest problem.

I listened to this interview and it was interesting how Panay kind of avoided the app questions related to Microsoft's Android porting efforts. Instead he promoted universal apps, which is to be expected from a top corporate guy. He mentioned "traction" with universal apps though there seems to be not a lot going on there. Uber did just release a universal app that runs across Windows 10 devices. Universal apps are coming but it is more of trickle than the flood needed and not the top line apps missing apps, like banking, top games, etc.

The state of the Windows Store is sort of a no man's land at this point. It's far from empty, there's actually a decent amount of good stuff, but again, it's missing tons of critical things particularly on the phone where the desktop and desktop web sites don't help fill in the gaps like they do on Windows tablets.

On the bright side, Microsoft does know have a top line hardware brand in Surface which is a big turn around from three years ago when it launched. In the x86 space, as long as Microsoft keeps pushing I think they have something cool there. It's going to much more difficult to leverage the Surface brand into the phone space with x86 Win32 compatibility really being the only thing that I can see taking the brand into phones and that's going to be niche. But I think it could be a profitable line if the idea and take some hold.

SamuraiInBlack said:

Removable battery, removable storage, customizable homescreen (read: something I can actually have a wallpaper on, and not a giant clutter of icons and buttons.) , and an app store that doesn't suck. Get me these things all in one phone, and I'll hunt down a non-Android replacement for my S5 today.

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And I'd love a successor to Windows 7 that isn't garbage or spyware, but 'that's just progress and you'd better get used to it.' They'll say the same thing when you want to know why you can't have all those phone features you want. Why compromise their potential profits if Google/Apple have eliminated those features anyway?

I really doubt yet another Windows phone is going to change their phone market share situation. They should probably stick to the novelty candy bar phones.

A x86 surface phone with a form factor and stylus of the gnote series able to run standard desktop software would seriously spark my interest.

I still say this would have been the perfect form factor:



and Microsoft should buy up the design patents from Canonical and make it happen. I'm not interested in Windows Phone at all but if they did make a Surface Phone that aligns itself in terms of design and form factor with this Ubuntu Edge concept I'd probably consider it.

GORANKAR said:

A x86 surface phone with a form factor and stylus of the gnote series able to run standard desktop software would seriously spark my interest.

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I'm honestly interested in knowing why. My experiences with x86 tablets have been... underwhelming. I can imagine specific use cases.

Early on before the Win8 disaster unfolded I figured phones and tablets were just a new computer form factor, perhaps the new common PC form factor, but I quickly realized that there isn't a whole lot of crossover between how I use my PC and how I use a phone/tablet. I want software designed for a particular interface, anything else has been sub-optimal at best.

DeathFromBelow said:

I'm honestly interested in knowing why. My experiences with x86 tablets have been... underwhelming. I can imagine specific use cases.

Early on before the Win8 disaster unfolded I figured phones and tablets were just a new computer form factor, perhaps the new common PC form factor, but I quickly realized that there isn't a whole lot of crossover between how I use my PC and how I use a phone/tablet. I want software designed for a particular interface, anything else has been sub-optimal at best.

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Honestly, I would not use it like a PC often except in a dock station situation. But, I would still find it more useful than my Androids are on the off chance I did have to edit an office document, or do actual work for a few minutes while out and about.

As a docking station PC setup. It would get rid of a laptop for me. I would need a dock at home, and one at both my office at the trailer park and apt complex. An Otterbox Defender belt type case, instead of a laptop bag would make me very happy. I don't need a tremendous amount of computing power, and one device would make things a lot simpler. I would still have my gaming PC for anything that did require power outside of what that could offer.

I have both a 10" and a 7" x86 Windows tablet. The 10" is barely useable. The 7" is terrible. There is a time and place for different form factors, it's ok to have different things on the market. And it's ok for different operating systems to have different use cases.

You guys are asking for a car that can turn 1.2G's on the skidpad, can do 0-60 in 2.7 seconds, can stick a full size couch in, seats 9, can pull 12,000 pounds, gets 47MPG on 87 octane, and costs under $22K. And you claim it's ridiculous that no company is making this vehicle and further that anyone who wouldn't drive this unicorn on Pirelli's is an unsophisticated sheeple.

A few years ago I was considering buying a windows phone. It kind of still looks like the best option but I decided to keep my money and skip all the snooping.