Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer Panos Panay is once again showing off a picture of the dual-screened Surface Duo productivity device. The photo was originally shared with Microsoft employee John Wiese on Twitter after the latter disseminated a tweet that read, “Watched the @surface Duo launch video again this morning while preparing for a meeting….still get chills, and super excited! Can’t wait!!!” Back in April Panay posted on Instagram a photo he took using the device.
The Surface Duo was originally unveiled October 2nd of last year and was supposed to be released during the upcoming holiday shopping season. Then, last month there was talk that Microsoft wanted to introduce the device before the expected August 5th introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2. On the other hand, German site WinFuture said yesterday that a delay until 2021 is possible.
The Duo is equipped with two 5.6-inch screens, each with a resolution of 1350 x 1800. When the two screens are opened, they create an 8.3-inch display with a hinge in the middle. The Duo will be equipped with a Surface Pen further solidifying its role as a productivity tool. The Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform, already one-generation old, will be under the hood while a 3460mAh battery will reportedly keep the lights on. The Surface Duo could come with a single 11MP camera that will work both as the handset’s primary and selfie snappers. Memory-wise, the device is expected to feature 6GB of RAM. While Android 10 will be running the show at launch, an update to Android 11 is expected not too long after the Surface Duo is released.
Similar to Samsung’s App Pair, the Surface Duo will have a feature called App Group that will allow the user to load a pair of apps on the dual-screens with just one tap. For example, if someone often loads the CNBC app and the calculator app together to compute his profits, App Group will allow this combo to be preset so that one tap will bring up both apps, one on each screen.
The photo of Panay holding the Duo also displays what might be a case for the product with thick rubber edges that round off the edges. It is important to note that the Surface Duo is not a foldable phone like the Galaxy Fold is. It is a dual-screen device but still delivers many of the same capabilities that a foldable phone has.
