Microsoft Surface Phone release date, news: early renders of flagship emerge

Despite the Microsoft Surface Phone's release still in limbo, information involving the device continues to find its way to the web. The latest comes in the form of render images.

The photos, which appear to showcase the design of Microsoft's next big mobile offering, were posted on Weibo by popular mobile tipster, KJuma.

However, Phone Arena believes that while the device in the images might be the Microsoft Surface Phone, it could be an old design. This is given away by the use of the Carl Zeiss branding on the camera.

Such branding has not been used for three years now, which led the site to believe that these Microsoft Surface Phone images are either fake or dated.

Nevertheless, Microsoft is still expected to come out with the Microsoft Surface Phone despite reports of snags, delays and even rumored cancellation.

It is believed that the Redmond giant will release the device by the end of the year, if not early next year. Microsoft will reportedly wait for the third Redstone update for Windows 10.

Contained in this update are tweaks that will allow the Microsoft Surface Phone to run desktop apps, the only but glaring drawback in the current form of the mobile operating system.

This x86 emulation should be one of the selling points of the handset and one that Microsoft will focus on polishing. This is reportedly why the company is holding up the Surface Phone reveal.

Microsoft has not released a new mobile device last year and has instead relied on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to spread the Windows Mobile brand. The latest and quite possibly the biggest release so far is the HP Elite X3, which is expected to get a sequel at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017.

This is allegedly one of the reasons Microsoft is attending the event, contrary to the reports that the tech giant is there to unveil the Microsoft Surface Phone.