Microsoft Surface Phone release date, specs rumors: Ultimate mobile device to launch in first half of 2017?

With Apple and Google currently dominating the mobile phone market, Microsoft hopes to respond to the pressure with a high-end smartphone of their own. However, the rumored Microsoft Surface Phone may well be the Redmond-based tech company's last foray into the mobile phone industry.

Following the underwhelming performance of the Windows 10 smartphones, Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, Microsoft turns to their more successful Surface brand to try and convince iOS and Android users to give Windows phones a second glance. However, even though Surface has been making waves in the tech market with revolutionary devices like the hybrid tablets, 2-in-1 detachable notebooks and convertible desktop, the upcoming Microsoft Surface Phone will have a lot of grounds to cover when it finally releases.

There may still be no concrete release date for the rumored device, but Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shared with the Australia Financial Review back in November that the tech company has been working on what he dubbed as "the ultimate mobile device." Nadella statement may very well serve as confirmation that a smartphone under the Microsoft Surface brand is coming soon. Speculations currently point to the first half of 2017 as a possible launching point for the Microsoft Surface Phone.

Confirmed details about the device have yet to be released, but a patent design allegedly filed by Microsoft have led to speculations that the upcoming smartphone may come equipped with the Microsoft Surface Pen, which will allow users to draw, write, and interact with the smartphone's display in various other ways.

The Microsoft Surface Phone is also rumored to scrap the home button, feature Qualcomm's newest Snapdragon 835 SoC, and have fast-charging capabilities via a USB-C port at the bottom of the device. There are also speculations that the upcoming smartphone may provide an option to be connected to an external keyboard, mouse and display in order to run various desktop applications in full.

More concrete details about the Microsoft Surface Phone will emerge once the Redmond-based company unveils the rumored device.