Microsoft's Panos Panay Says Company is Exploring Several New Form Factors in Surface Category, But a Phone Isn't One of Them (bleepingcomputer.com) 36
Speaking on the sidelines of the Surface Go launch, Microsoft's Panos Panay, who heads the Surface division, once again very much reiterated that the company has moved past its smartphone ambitions. From a report: In an interview with Wired, Microsoft's Surface head Panos Panay confirmed that the company is working on new form factors. When questioned about whether this would include a new Surface Phone, Panay stated that the Surface Phone was not one that they are thinking about at this time. "I wouldn't say that it includes a Surface Phone," Panos answered in the interview. "I think you have to think about where is that unmet need when you're thinking about your product road-map," he replied. "Of course, we're always inventing, of course, we're thinking about new form factors," Panos added. "The way people will communicate in the future will change. The form factors will wrap around that. And so when you say the phone form factor changes, I would flip it a little bit and say that communication changes."
Re: First post (Score:2)
Re: I'm looking forward to this! (Score:2, Insightful)
'member when MS Surface was supposed to be a coffee table that would wirelessly interface with devices set on it so pictures would spill out of your phone onto the table and you could touch them up literally with your fingers and slide them back to the phone?
Kinda sounds much cooler than what it eventually became.
consumers ask, wtf is surface? (Score:2, Insightful)
is it a tablet?
is it a phone?
is it a tv slapped on it's back and used as a table?
make something and fucking stick to it for a few years at least come on.. especially if you're making something actually newish like that table was.
Re:consumers ask, wtf is surface? (Score:4, Funny)
umm its actually just a table that you put your iDevice on.
Re: (Score:2)
It's a brand. Jessh why does everything need it's own specific name these days.
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It's a brand. Jessh why does everything need it's own specific name these days.
So people can figure out what it isn't compatible with.
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Microsoft is the brand. it started out as a MODEL. a specific name for a specific thing, namely just the table. then they released the tablets and started pretending the table never existed.
never mind that surface and surface pro weren't software compatible. surface go and surface pro are. that's the first surface pro, not the 2017 surface pro by the way. but they're sw compatible. surface 3 isn't. surface 3 pro is sw compatible with the pro.
I've seen supposed professionals get bitten by buying the windows
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I don't understand. Are you complaining that every accessory isn't compatible with every device, or are you complaining that you don't know the difference between the branding of a model line and a specific model of a device? Your complaint will fall on dead ears and applies to every company in the technology world. Apple with their connectors and cables constantly changing, accessories suddenly depreciated, Google with it's Nest components not being compatible with the primary thermostat (better still they
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It isn't a phone... (Score:2)
It isn't a phone.... it's a really small tablet, with the capacity for making phone calls.
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You misspelled 'table'.
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My wife always complains when she wants to use my smartphone that the dialing app isn't easy to find. I use it so infrequently that it's on like the third page.
I think that's pretty typical. How often do people even use the "phone" app on the typical phone? Probably a tiny fraction of the time they use their phone like a small tablet.
I would love a pocketable device that recognizes and embraces this fact and focuses on the phablet experience.
That's a shame (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: That's a shame (Score:2)
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He knows no one wants a Windows Phone, but his statements didn't exclude the possibility of 4G/5G Surface products.
Now if MS could only come to grips with the fact that they have no idea how to connect with consumers and that consumers don't actually like Windows, it's just the only OS they're familiar with.
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I think they should still be making a Surface Phone to be honest - someone's gotta be in single digit market share.
The question must be asked... (Score:2)
So is a "form factor" like...hmm, what's the word...like a "shape"?
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LOL
Good marketing move (Score:2)
You can imagine all the jokes "Microsofts phone will zune be gone" etc etc
That image of failure is not one that Microsoft wants to encourage, it implies their other products may also not be the best, or that alternatives may be better.
This is a simple marketing strategy
New form factor : Surface 2 axle trailer... (Score:1)
yep, 2,000 lb surface computer that you have to pull behind a car. This will help Microsoft some day know how people drive so they can make Surface Car 1.0 connect to the Surface 2 Axle trailer... And no it will not make phone calls and will only run Metro 128 apps from the app store. Old school lead acid batteries as Elon Musk wants too much for his batteries. No it will not charge when pulling that is an add-on for the Pro Surface 2 Axle trailer. Surface Enterprise 2 Axle trailer will come with break