Microsoft’s efforts in the mobile market have been riddled with failure, but the one shining star has been the company’s Surface line of tablets. Considering the success of the Surface and the Surface Pro, many people are expecting Microsoft to introduce a Surface Phone in the near future, and while we don’t exactly have an official confirmation that such a device is in the works, the company’s CMO has claimed that the company is working on a smartphone that’s the “spiritual equivalent” of the Surface tablet line is being made.
Flanked by Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft veteran Chris Capossela appeared on Windows Weekly via Skype to provide insight into the company’s activities over the past year. Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer and former speech writer for Bill Gates offered tantalizing details around Redmond’s phone hardware efforts, yielded no concessions on the relentless and unclear upgrade push in Windows 7 and 8, and spun Azure as being light years ahead of Google and Oracle’s business cloud efforts. In the interview, Foley pressed Capossela about Microsoft’s lagging mobile efforts, saying she’s “abandoning hope” in Windows and considering an iPhone purchase. Confirming that the company is working on a “breakthrough” phone that’s the “spiritual equivalent” of the Surface tablet line, Capossela asked for more patience, saying “we need time to actually go build that.” Although he never referred to the new phone using the Surface or Surface Phone brand, the specificity of Capossela’s comments appear to confirm that Microsoft is working on a high-end handset separate from the usual Lumia design.