In the final part of an event organized in New York, Microsoft unveiled two devices that could be revolutionary. Launch scheduled in a year
While Samsung and Huawei are struggling in the development and launch of their dual screen smartphones (the Galaxy Fold was first withdrawn from the market and, after several months, reintroduced on the market; the Mate X was presented in Barcelona last February, then disappeared from the radar), Microsoft tries to surprise everyone by presenting, during an event "ad hoc" in New York, not one, but two devices with a foldable screen.
These are the Surface Neo and Surface Duo, devices very similar in shape (although, it seems, are not yet definitve) and in the possible modes of use. But not in size. The Neo, in fact, is a pocket tablet that, once opened, becomes a device from the "normal" size. The Duo, however, has the size and appearance of a smartphone and, as far as we know so far, should be positioned in the same market segment of the two foldable phones mentioned above.
How is the Microsoft Surface Neo
Although the official technical specifications have not yet been made known, during the presentation in New York have been made known several information that allow you to reconstruct the data sheet of the Surface Neo. More than foldable, the Surface Neo is a dual screen tablet: the 9-inch LCD displays are flanked and "tied" by two hinges that allow different modes of use.
When the Surface Neo is opened to 180 ° it turns into a tablet with a 13-inch display to be used both in "single screen" (although the hinge may give some problems) and in "dual screen" mode, thus promoting multitasking. As mentioned, however, the hinges of the Surface Neo open 360 degrees and the user can choose to "bend" the two screens as he sees fit. For example, one of the two displays can be used as a keyboard, thus transforming the Neo in an ultraportable laptop (screen less than 10 inches) to be used as a substitute for a PC while you are out of the house.
At the inside of the shell is an Intel Lakefield processor "customized" for Microsoft, while the operating system will be Windows 10X, lightened version of the operating system for PC and "engineered". specifically for the Neo and Duo. Despite this, Microsoft executives have assured that this will not mean any waiver: the Neo will support the Office package and all other apps that are usually installed on Windows 10 computers.
How is the Microsoft Surface Duo
If we know little about the Surface Neo, we know even less about the Surface Duo. All we know is that Microsoft doesn't want you to call it a smartphone. Although shapes and sizes are exactly those of a cell phone. At first glance, the Surface Duo is a miniaturized version of the Neo: two screens of 5.6 inches each joined by a hinge capable of turning 360 degrees, so as to ensure different modes of use (the display becomes 8 inches when they are opened by 180 degrees). But the similarities, as far as we know, could also end there.
The Surface Duo, for example, does not mount Windows 10x, but a customized version of Android containing all the apps in the Microsoft suite. The Surface Duo, for example, doesn't run Windows 10x, but a customized version of Android containing all the apps of the Microsoft suite, including Office, the Swyft keyboard and all the other applications that, in recent years, the engineers of the Redmond company have created for the much more famous mobile operating system. Inside the shell there is no Intel chip, but an SoC Snapdragon 855, top of the line 2019 that will probably be replaced before the official launch. In short, it will not be a smartphone yet the similarities are undeniable.
When they come out and how much they cost the Surface Neo and Surface Duo
According to the information provided during the presentation in New York, before we can have in our hands one of the two devices "dual screen" (or foldable as you like) will still pass some time. Their release is scheduled for winter 2020. On the price, however, there is the most absolute secrecy.