Everything we know about Microsoft's rumoured Surface Phone

As the name would suggest, the Surface Phone would be designed by the Surface team.

Panos Panay, the man behind the Surface, has vaguely hinted that the company was looking at making a phone and Chris Cospella, Microsoft's head of marketing, has made similar remarks.

The Lumia handsets are made of plastic and, as was Nokia's idea, have colourful designs. Contrastingly, the Surface tablets are metallic and angular and the Surface Phone could go the same way.

One of Microsoft's strongest selling points for a Windows phone is that it runs Office and other software that businesses use everyday.

A report from NPU suggested that Microsoft was going to focus solely on businesses when it came to the Surface Phone, leveraging the Windows name and software to sell units in high quantities.

The iPhone is fast becoming the most-used device by businesses, and Microsoft is keen to reclaim the lost business.

According to a leak from WMPowerUser, the Surface Phone will have the following hardware:

A 5.5-inch, 1440×2560 display that uses AMOLED technology.

An Intel Atom x3 processor, released in mid-2015.

4GB of RAM.

64GB of 128GB of internal storage.

The leaked specs come from August 2015 and could well have changed, but they are top-of-the-line and reflect Microsoft's desire to make the Surface Phone as powerful — and capable — as possible.

Just like the high-end Lumia devices, the Surface Phone will run Windows 10 Mobile.

The aim of Windows 10 is to run seamlessly, and cooperatively, across multiple devices, including PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Services and apps, such as Office, can be developed for one operating system — Windows 10 — but run across multiple devices.

Windows 10 has a feature called Continuum that, when paired with a dock, allows a Lumia device to act like a PC, complete with a mouse, keyboard, and monitor.

The idea is that a user would only need one device — their phone — which can transform.

Microsoft has positioned itself well by leveraging Windows 10, and Universal Apps, to make this happen and it could be a big selling point for the Surface Phone.

An app listing in the Windows Store referenced a "Microsoft SIM card," and the company has been quiet about what the means.

One suggestion is that Microsoft is looking to become a mobile operator, licensing space from carriers and passing it on to users. Another is that the company wants to take an Apple-style approach, passing on carrier services to a blank SIM card.

Either way, Microsoft could be looking to bundle the Surface Phone will a Microsoft-branded SIM card.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told BuzzFeed that it doesn't matter if only a few people are using Windows phone because people use multiple devices.

This would explain the potential focus on businesses, where buy-in to Windows is big. The Lumia smartphones fail mainly because they are compared to the iPhone or Android which are standalone devices: You don't need OS X or Chrome OS to use them.

However, you do need Windows to run Office and many third-party programmes used in offices everyday and this is why Microsoft could be focusing on quality rather than quantity.

The Surface Phone would fit perfectly into Microsoft's lineup, adding a business-orientated phone to a portfolio that is, by and large, mostly about enterprise.

The Surface Pro and Book, for example, appeal to on-the-go businessmen and bundling a Surface Phone alongside the tablet would make sense.

Windows 10 is also designed to run on a smartphone, with features such as Continuum and Universal Windows Apps giving a full experience on a smaller screen, which appeals to business clients.