Microsoft files patents for "Surface Phones", confirming it is working on new handheld devices

Even though Microsoft has reported a fall in Surface PC line and Windows phones revenues, the Redmond-based tech giant is aiming for new devices called “Surface Phones” and has made its patent public. According to a report in Forbes on 24 July, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has confirmed that Microsoft will “make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today.” Earlier this year, Nadella declared that 2017 would see Microsoft launch the ultimate mobile device saying, “We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today’s market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device.” On 21 July, Microsoft **reported** that the Windows Surface revenue decreased two percent mainly due to product lifecycle transitions. Phone revenues were effectively zero as with the previous quarter. Even after these results, the company has now published patent on smartphones. Titled ‘Wireless Communications Device’, the patent talks about a bendable smartphone with antenna, battery, SIM card holders and screen connectors split over a hinge to create a dual-winged device.  On the consumer side of things, Microsoft will continue to build up its cloud based activities that drove exponential growth and helped it report much better profits than expected for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017, which ended on 30 June.