Microsoft Surface Phone release date, specs, rumors: late 2017 or early 2018 release for device?

A Microsoft logo is seen on an office building in New York City, July 28, 2015. Reuters/Mike Segar

With Microsoft's launch event nearing, talks about the Microsoft Surface Phone and the possibility of the smartphone showing up at the event are becoming more and more rampant.

However, reports have it that the Windows phone flagship will not be part of the event as the release of the device itself is already up in the air.

Trusted Microsoft analyst Mary Jo Foley said that her sources are not even sure at the moment if the Microsoft Surface Phone will end up seeing the light of day.

"My sources continue to say no new Microsoft phones of any kind are coming this year, either," the expert wrote in a follow-up report on Microsoft's launch event this month.

"If and when anything like a Surface Phone ends up materializing, it will likely be late 2017 or maybe even not until 2018, my contacts have said recently," she went on to say.

The event, which will focus on the launch of the Surface All-in-One, the first desktop computer from the Redmond-based company, will simply feature Windows phones from OEMs.

It is unclear if the Microsoft Surface Phone will even be mentioned or made official at the affair, but this will be the best shot users can get considering that its imminent release is very unlikely.

However, Foley's remark suggests even that is not likely to happen on during the much-awaited Microsoft event. An update on the Windows 10 software is just as far as users can get.

As for the specs of the device, the Microsoft Surface Phone is expected to stand out from the pack by embedding a fingerprint scanner on the screen rather than on the home button or the back of the device like many flagships do.

Among other features include a purported stylus, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 processor, and RAM that can go up to a whopping 8 GB.

The Microsoft Event will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m. EDT.

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