In the follow-up to the press conference, Microsoft Product Chief Panos Panay further explained the unveiling ofSurface DuoThis design concept also explains why this product uses two sets of independent screens instead of a single-sided, foldable flexible screen.
In terms of product positioning, Surface Duo fills the gap in mobile phone products in the Surface series, making the Surface series products cover desktops, laptops, 2-in-1 convertible tablets, and more mobile phone usage needs.
This time, the company launched a dual-screen designSurface Neo, is Microsoft's hope to promote the dual-screen and even multi-screen experience again after launching the first Surface product 7 years ago and starting to promote the use trend of 2 in 1 devices. Therefore, in addition to unveiling Surface Neo, Microsoft also announced the launch of a dual-screenWindows 10 X operating system.
Panos Panay stated that in the past, when promoting the 2-in-1 device experience through Surface, there was considerable market skepticism. However, subsequent results confirmed that 2-in-1 devices have indeed changed traditional laptop usage patterns while also bringing more convenient experiences, thereby injecting new vitality into the previously dormant PC market.
As users begin to demand multi-screen usage in their daily lives, it is expected that dual-screen usage will gradually become mainstream, and can even be combined with mobile phones to form a multi-screen usage model. Therefore, Microsoft expects to promote more dual-screen design experiences through Surface Neo.
However, while the smaller Surface Duo maintains the dual-screen experience of the Surface Neo, it doesn't adopt the single-sided, foldable flexible screen design of the Samsung Galaxy Fold. Panos Panay said that this was primarily based on overall usage needs and practicality, and believes that the two independent screen designs can still provide a better multitasking experience.
In reality, while single-sided, foldable flexible screens are indeed more aesthetically pleasing and can even display the entire screen, they are still difficult to mass-produce. Furthermore, flexible screens may have dents at the folds, making them relatively easy to damage in actual use. Therefore, Microsoft's adoption of a separate dual-screen design has its reasons.
As for the Surface Duo's lack of an external camera module, and its exclusive internal video camera design, Panos Panay stated that this was primarily to avoid requiring users to frequently switch between user interfaces. In fact, if the Surface Duo is folded outward, the video camera can be used directly as the primary camera. However, it remains to be seen whether Microsoft will change its mind and incorporate an external primary camera in the Surface Duo's design in the future.
In addition, regarding the fact that Surface Duo does not use Microsoft's own Windows operating system, but the Android operating system developed in cooperation with Google, Panos Panay said at the press conference that he hopes to further connect the Google Play Store service market ecosystem and create a better "connection" between the Windows operating system and the Android operating system.
From another perspective, Microsoft's past attempts to promote its own Windows Mobile and Windows Phone operating systems ultimately failed to match the market growth of Android and iOS, ultimately leading it to expand its service offerings through the Android operating system. Therefore, adopting Android for the Surface Duo effectively allows Microsoft to avoid the risks of building its own operating system ecosystem while also allowing it to expand the scale of its services through the Android operating system.
