Microsoft’s foldables are two-fold.
The firm’s new foldables mark a return to the smartphone space, and aims to replace laptops with a new operating system.
Microsoft unwrapped the Surface Duo and Surface Neo at its annual event in New York, surprising to many.
Both attach two separate screens to make a foldable device – the Duo is a compact Android powered smartphone, while the Neo is a larger tablet that turns into a laptop-sized machine running an optimised Windows 10X operating system.
Microsoft Surface Duo
First, the Surface Duo has two 5.6-inch displays that can be folded 360 degrees, equalling 8.3-inches together, and is 4.8mm thin with a fingerprint scanner and USB-C port.
Unlike its previously failed attempts with Windows Phone, Microsoft says the Duo runs a ‘special version’ of Android this time with some custom APIs to make existing apps run on the device, though I’d suspect it is just a tweaked Android 10 since it supports foldable displays natively.
Of course, the foldable smartphone will have access to the Google Play Store and seems to use a Microsoft launcher, with its own interface.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor is on board, but the company says it could be switched for a newer chip since it will launch on holiday 2020 (end 2020), giving one-year for developers to optimise their applications.
Microsoft Surface Neo
On the other hand, the Surface Neo is a 655-gram tablet that transforms into a laptop.
Running on the new Windows 10X, a version of Windows 10 that is optimised for foldable and dual-screen devices, it is made up of two 9-inch LCD screens, equalling 13.1-inches.
It has the same 360-degree hinge, allowing the 5.6mm thin (unfolded) device to be completely closed-off for protection, and flipped around for single-screen use.
Interestingly, the optional Surface Slim Pen that matches the also introduced Surface Pro X, is compatible with the Neo and can be wirelessly charged with a magnetic attachment at the back.
Likewise, a separate Bluetooth keyboard can be purchased and magnetically attaches to the device’s back, then can be flipped to the front for use, changing the Windows 10X user interface by adding an on-screen trackpad and “WonderBar” with emoji shortcuts, text predictions and picture-in-picture video, similarly to Apple’s TouchBar.
An unnamed Intel chip powers the Neo with LTE, USB-C, and Windows Hello facial recognition.
As with the Duo, the Surface Neo will ship in holiday 2020 (end of 2020) with pricing and full specifications to be confirmed.
The Connected by Henry Man 