Surface Duo Teased Again With Two New Hints
You can probably hear Microsoft's hype machine churning by now. Without easy access to more traditional forms for marketing resources, the company's executives have taken it upon themselves to build up the buzz for what is probably one of its biggest device announcements since the first Surface 2-in-1 tablet. Corporate VP Brad Anderson once again gives the public a glimpse of the Surface Duo, this time subtly teasing some more details to look forward to next month.
It almost seems like Microsoft will be positioning the dual-screen phone as the perfect cooking companion given how often it seems to appear in that context. Microsoft communications lead Frank X. Shaw previously teased the phone including a Surface Pen while baking and now Anderson is showing off his own skills in the kitchen with a little help from the Surface Duo.
While the intent of the Twitter post was to showcase the device's ability to show two completely different (though thematically connected) things at the same time, a few astute observers noticed two things about the veep's Surface Duo. If you squint hard enough (or zoom into the image), you'll notice that the device's status icons are all clustered in the center of the top panel, unlike almost all Android devices. How this layout will work in landscape mode, however, remains to be seen.
What can you do with two screens? Well, tonight I had the recipes for the main course AND dessert open at the same time! Go @surface. Amazing experience @panos_panay and team. pic.twitter.com/EEZyfscQI0
— Brad Anderson (@Anderson) July 30, 2020
A bit more obvious is the rather unsightly bumpers around the device, confirming that there will be a case for the Surface Duo. Whether Microsoft ships one in the box, however, is still an open question. Anderson also shows off the Surface Duo, case and all, in his recent The Shiproom podcast. Sadly, fewer details can be gleaned here other than how the exec uses it for reading his script and some information on the side, constantly switching between landscape and portrait orientations.
Given how much Microsoft's own top brass are teasing the device, the rumored August 24th debut sounds very likely. It will be launching in the shadow of the Galaxy Z Fold 2, of course, and it remains to be seen if it can actually outshine the "true" foldable phone with a dual-screen design.