David Breyer
It sounds like the future of Microsoft's long-rumored "Andromeda" Surface device is up in the air.
A Microsoft device codenamed Andromeda, designed to be some sort of folding productivity tablet, has been floating around the internet for some time. Interest in the folding hardware was rekindled recently after a report from The Verge said it could be a "pocketable" Surface device, and that existing prototypes are said to look nearly identical to renders created by designer David Breyer.
Alas, we shouldn't be expecting an Andromeda device any time soon, according to ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley. The Andromeda device's operating system was rumored to be included in an upcoming update for Windows 10, but Foley said that is no longer the case, which casts major doubt on the Andromeda device's viability any time soon.
The renders portray a beautiful and intriguing device with interesting potential. It also wasn't exactly clear what is was meant to be. It looks like a smartphone, but it wasn't designed to be one, according to reports, although it was said to support "telephony," which could mean any data or internet-based calling system like Skype.
As Foley mentions, Microsoft never mentioned Andromeda to the public, and it sounds like Microsoft is still deciding whether to take the idea to market. At the very least, a 2018 reveal seems firmly out of the question.
Check out the renders that are supposedly identical to prototypes of Microsoft's rumored Andromeda Surface device:
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