Microsoft may finally be working on its rumoured Surface Phone as it adds phone APIs in its latest Windows Insider build

Rumours about Microsoft working on a smartphone have been floating on the internet for the last couple of years. [caption id=“attachment_4127553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Microsoft logo. Reuters.[/caption] The rumours have time and again reignited with reports about an upcoming “ **Surface Phone** ” or a dual-screen tablet-like device called “ **Andromeda** ” with little to no information on if Microsoft is actually working on the device. However, according to latest reports, it seems like Microsoft may be looking towards cellular devices. According to a report by ArsTechnica, a Reddit user ‘ FireFly74’ posted a Pastebin link with the evidence of phone APIs in the latest Windows Insider build number 17650. For the uninitiated, Windows Insider builds are beta test builds not meant for daily usage. The report does point out that Windows has had integrated support for cellular modems since Windows 10. However, the support always came with restrictions to only support data connections. This means that even if the users had access to cellular data connection in their Windows 8 or even Windows 10 devices, they could not make phone calls or even dial numbers without having a Windows 10 Mobile or Windows Phone device. [caption id=“attachment_4177837” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The latest build in question is a preview for Redstone 5, the next major update to Windows 10 after the upcoming Redstone 4. The report points out that new APIs add support to dialling numbers, contacts, blocking numbers, support for Bluetooth headsets, speakerphone mode and other features. The code also hints at support for video calling. Microsoft has not issued any official statement about any plans on the smartphone hardware end. From what we know, Microsoft has halted its efforts towards the smartphone mobile division. It may be possible that a mobile offering is somewhere in future and this is a preliminary effort to streamline the code into one build of Windows.