iPhone SE stop, Surface Go | #PNWeekly 313 (LIVE at 12p ET)

On our podcast this week: Microsoft has a tiny Surface tablet that costs $800 if you want it like they show it. Also, long live the iPhone X?

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Microsoft’s Andromeda project is unlikely to materialize anytime soon

Both the hardware and software components of Microsoft's mystery Andromeda project have been put on hold indefinitely, according to a well-connected insider

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A Surface Phone? This is probably a patent for a Microsoft mobile hotspot

Don't get your hopes up for a a flip phone-style device with Windows 10 Mobile on ARM64. Microsoft is apparently interested in that design for a hotspot.

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Microsoft may have a fresh take on Windows Mobile and a new phone in ‘active development’

We know you've probably heard this many times in the past, but no, Windows Mobile is still not dead yet, with Microsoft focused on "rebooting" it.

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ARM64-x86 emulation shown off for Snapdragon-powered full Windows 10 phones

There’s a bridge to the Surface Phone.

Microsoft and Qualcomm jointly announced that future Snapdragon processors will be able to run full versions of Windows 10. At the Windows Hardware Engineering Community conference in Shenzhen, months of x86 emulation development made its way to developers in a showcase.

The demo, while limited, did show off quick bursts of Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Office and a little DirectX gaming on, of all things, a current-generation Snapdragon 820 chipset running Windows 10 Enterprise.

Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group Terry Myerson hammered home the point that the future of traditional computing is mobile and that Windows 10 was equipping itself to “help everyone make the most of the air around them.” Myerson mentioned that OEMs can use embedded eSIMs to enable users to pick and choose data plans from the Windows Store.

It is strongly believed that the much-rumored Surface Phone will debut later in 2017 with a Snapdragon 835 and an emphasis on x86 computing with Continuum-connected screens. Other devices may also come in the year ahead.

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Surface Phone rumors include specs, prototype progress on x86-ARM64 emulation

There’s been increased leak and rumor activity on the Microsoft mobile space. From Dell’s Stack computing to the hopes of connecting a huge emulation bridge between x86 apps and ARM64 chips and the slippage of the Surface Phone. The development arc of Windows 10 seems increasingly inclined towards a singular piece of hardware with docks and screens and peripherals for whatever task is at hand.

As much as we’d like to get away from the talk, there’s still the anticipation of when we can get our first taste of this world. Well, according Nokiapoweruser‘s “trusted sources,” things are coming together for some prototypes of the Surface Phone.

What we know about the prototypes is that they are running the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 with support for Quick Charge 4.0. Windows 10 Mobile is present in a 64-bit form on all units as well as similar screens of high pixel density — the measurement and screen resolutions taken from the sources are guesses.

One unit has 6GB of RAM and is said to be capable of running x86 apps only in Continuum and not independently on the device. Another version of the phone is equipped with 4GB of RAM and cannot run x86 apps at all. There is also a “Laptop Accessory” dock and other tidbits in the works as Microsoft is “seriously pursuing the 3-in-1 form factor.”

x86 app emulation on ARM64 chips is in development as part of the feature package for Windows 10 Redstone 3. The Surface Phone is said to be launching with Redstone 3 in “late 2017.”

We should note that prototypes don’t indicate what we’ll see in a final product or products. Microsoft has a berth of lead time to hash out bugs in Redstone 3 and prevent how Windows 10 Mobile launched on the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL. So far, the killer app for Redstone 3 seems to be x86 emulation, so if development is on-track, it’s likely that we’ll see the more capable spec set (6GB of RAM) to serve the feature. But Microsoft could just as easily launch both versions of the phone.

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Thurrott: Dell’s Intel-powered Windows phone at standstill, indicative of Surface Phone challenges

The pictures and words from Evan Blass of what looked to be an impressively thin Windows 10 Mobile phone powered by a “laptop-class Intel processor” could have turned out to be “much more than just a concept,” but we might not have much to conceptualize if what Thurrott is reporting is true.

Impressively thin? It could be “impossibly thin.”

The outlet’s Brad Sams claims from his sources that the phone was devised by Dell to run x86 with an Intel chip — a heat-intensive drive for such a thinly-designed phone. The thought was that a low-end Atom chip could be used in the phone, but that series was left behind in addition to most of Intel’s mobile application processors.

Additionally, we think that topping off with a total recall of Intel’s Basis fitness trackers because of overheating processors in the Peak models really put a kibosh on further progress with this phone.

Thurrott goes on to mention internal discussion at Microsoft about going x86 on what would be the “Surface phone“, but there seems to have been not much more than chatter about it.

All of this is not to say that Intel isn’t developing anything else for mobile — it has insisted that it is still working on Cherry Trail and Apollo Lake processors for mobile devices, though not necessarily for smartphones.

But with ARM design chips a clear focus for Microsoft in the meantime, the bet is that we won’t see anything like what was leaked in the near future.

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Hot Takes on the Huawei Mate 9 and more… after dark | #PNWeekly 225

It’s nighttime in America and it’s Friday to boot. We should be out on the streets painting the town red. But instead, we’re sitting down, cracking a few cans open and talking with our best mates about a new Mate.

As Huawei takes over the scene for the week with a couple of luminescent phones, Evan Blass and Alcatel remind us that Windows can be a fun platform if it tried. Will it try? We may come up with an answer or we may just pass onto the unrelenting carrier wars, flip phones for modernity, Kickstarters, Indiegogos and a kick in the pants for us to go go GO!

It’s the weekend and this is episode 225 of the Pocketnow Weekly.

Watch the live video broadcast from 11:00pm Eastern on November 4th (click here for your local time), or check out the high-quality audio version right here.

For folks watching live, you can comment and ask questions by using the #PNWeekly hashtag on Twitter during the broadcast. For folks watching later, you can shoot your listener emails to podcast [AT] pocketnow [DOT] com for a shot at getting your question read aloud on the air the following week!

Pocketnow Weekly 225


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iTunes Link

XBox Music Link

Direct Download

Recording Date

November 4, 2016

Host

Jules Wang

Juan Bagnell

 

Sponsor

This week’s episode of the Pocketnow Weekly Podcast is made possible by:

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How’s it goin’, Mate?

(00:02:55)

 

huawei-mate-9-leica

Following on from the Huawei P9, the Mate 9 makes its debut in Munich, Germany. Our Juan Carlos Bagnell was there to handle the Leica-endorsed, dual-camera goods — particularly with that fancy schmancy €1,400 Porsche Design version — while Jaime Rivera and Adam Z. Lein put some light onto the Huawei Fit tracker.

News

surface-phone-evleaks

26:26 | This Windows phone is more than just a concept

32:09 | The Alcatel Idol 4s with Windows 10: where it’s at and where it won’t be

35:37 | Where’s Microsoft at with Windows 10 Mobile?

42:44 | Lenovo Phab 2 Pro finally makes it to the dance floor

51:52 |  ZTE flips a phone here, Samsung flips a phone there

57:59 | Apple dongles dangle for a discount as a jungle protests

1:05:37 | Blood on the water between T-Mo and Verizon

1:14:39 | We completely speculate that Foxconn and Sharp are moving to the US

1:19:07 |  Maybe Xiaomi is coming here, too?

1:23:08 | Crowdfunding Corner: 360° video-recording glasses and an eye-tracking VR headset

1:33:35 | Mobile beats desktop internet usage for first time ever

 

Nightcap

galaxy-note-7-costume-sw

Yep. That’s a Southwest Airlines attendant. Dressed as a Galaxy Note 7.

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Evan Blass posts thing we’re vaguely relating to the Surface Phone [UPDATE]

Mobile leaks teller Evan Blass has posted a thing. It may be a leak. It may be a concept phone. Maybe it’s both. We don’t know.

Whatever it is, it looks like a wafer-thin Windows 10 Mobile phone with minimal bezels and made of matte materials and, potentially, “Powered by a laptop-class Intel processor”.

“Would this have blown your mind?,” Blass asks.

No answers, just questions — especially as we have no idea who and how credible Blass’s source is: did this design circulate from and around Microsoft? Is this phone design currently in consideration by the team? Is this a fan-made render? Are we really just dealing with a USB-C port for I/O? How about the chip? Why Intel and not ARM, as Terry Myerson says is important to Microsoft for mobile? Celeron? Core i7? Skylake? Kaby Lake? Maybe it’s a Haswell? Any dates? Times?

What’s your favorite food, Evan?

Obviously, we’re covering this because of Blass’s track record for material leaks and because of the inferred subject matter — the Surface Phone — of what could be Microsoft’s next first-party smartphone.

UpdateApparently, it is not a concept. While we’re not clear on what company is behind these lifestyle pictures, Blass claims that we’re dealing with something closer to a real product… at least for now.

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Don’t rule out Surface Pro 5 or Surface Book 2 announcements later this month

Does Amazon know something we don’t about Microsoft’s (not so) big upcoming NYC hardware event? Maybe, and maybe not, but if the Surface Phone is indeed delayed for 2018, perhaps Redmond can throw Windows 10 convertible enthusiasts a bone or two on October 26 after all.The Surface Pro 4 tablet and

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Microsoft hardware event set for October 26, Surface Phone could be as late as 2018

Invitations have gone out to the media for an event that should feature another batch of hardware from Microsoft. No, you’re not seeing it backwards — that’s the way the company told us of the news.The place? New York City. The time? 10am Eastern. Finally, the date? October 26.So, what’s going to be up for grabs at this event? Likely not Surface convertible tablets, which should appear early next year to head up against

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Source: Microsoft Lumia line to end in December

Microsoft has left rumors to fester on its commitment not only to its mobile software platform, but its mobile hardware line as well. As Lumia devices take a tumble in the price ladder and only Surface all-in-one PCs on the docket for launch next month, we figure this rumor would’ve ...

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Rumor: No Surface Book 2 or Pro 5 coming this fall, no Surface Phone… ever?

With Samsung, Apple and LG’s big (-gest) fall product announcements now officially in the rearview mirror, what’s there really to look forward to for hardcore tech geeks in the coming months?An October event dedicated to new iPad and

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