Microsoft Surface Phone release date rumors: New info suggest handset still in the cards; Microsoft has big plans for it

There were rumors in the recent months that Microsoft has given up on the Surface Phone, but the latest report suggests that the Redmond-based tech giant is not ready to surrender just yet and may just have grand plans for the device.

Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet has said before that the Microsoft Surface Phone may have been delayed to 2018, but fall 2017 at the earliest and the reason behind the purported hold-up may have been unearthed.

In a new report by Foley, she revealed that fall 2017 happens to be release schedule for Redstone 3, the third update for Windows 10. Among the features set to be included in this update is x86 emulation on ARM processors, internally referred to as Cobalt.

Just recently, WalkingCat has dug up references to what he called referred to as Windows' "hybrid x86-on-ARM64 tech" that goes by the name CHPE, technology that is expected to be seen at work in the Microsoft Surface Phone.

Foley believes that C stands for Cobalt while HP is Hewlett-Packard, the company behind the Elite X3, the premium Windows Phone released early this year. E, Foley surmises, might stand for emulation.

CHPE could potentially allow Continuum on Windows 10 to finally rectify its only but glaring limitation— its inability to run x86 apps—which HP found a workaround for by redesigning its virtualization services.

"HP reworked its HP Workspace virtualization service so that it targeted smaller business customers who didn't have x86 app access but lacked corporate remote-desktop access to be able to tap into their x86 apps," Foley explained.

The Microsoft Surface Phone, which is expected to still support ARM processors, is expected to make use of CHPE. The only thing left is the processor that can provide the power needed for this to work.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 (or 835) chipset is the perfect candidate for this and seeing that it will be out around the same time Redstone 3 will be released, it makes sense for the Microsoft Surface Phone to arrive around that time as well.

"I don't know, but I've continued to hear Microsoft still hasn't completely thrown in the towel on some kind of a Windows 10 Mobile device targeted at business users," Foley said.