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Andromeda is a project that Microsoft has been working on for over two years. A secret project which Numerama unveiled last year's code name and on which The Verge procured an internal document. In this document – that the US site has not published – we learn that Andromeda could take the form of a tablet type Surface … but foldable in two to fit in a pocket, a little like the Vaio P launched by Sony in 2010. About the format, The Verge recalls that the head of the hardware division of Microsoft, Panos Panay, had already confirmed the existence of a Surface Mini project he described as " A Moleskine "from the name of the famous notebooks.
Internally, Microsoft describes its research prototype as" A Surface of a pocket size that combines an innovative hardware and software experience to create a computer experience that is both versatile and personal ". Newspeak marketing gangrene even the internal projects of companies, but it retains the concept of "pocket", a mention that echoes perfectly patents filed by the company. It is on the basis of the schemes published in these patents that the designer David Breyer designed the rendering of the illustration at the head of the article and those in the tweet embedded below.
According to the information retrieved by The Verge, the current prototypes of Andromeda would look perfectly like the renderings of the artist.
ARM in ambush?
Which says pocket size says limited energy consumption and, with the arrival of Always Connected PC, these Windows 10 based laptops based on ARM Snapdragon 835 processors, the question arises as to the technical platform on which Microsoft develops Andromeda.
According to The Verge, no available information allows for the moment to determine which of the two architectures – x86 or ARM – will be preferred. But it seems certain that feedback from machines like the HP Envy X2 that we recently tested will allow him to make his choice. And if ARM is not retained, this does not mean that Intel will win the bet: in terms of chips between CPU and GPU, AMD solutions are more and more interesting.
Overcoming the failure of smartphones
Between Intel who failed to offer adapted hardware solutions and Microsoft whose Windows Mobile has made a big flop, it's a mild euphemism to say that the Win-Tel duo missed the turn of the mobile telephony. According to Microsoft's internal document, the Andromeda project would be a device capable of erasing the differences between " mobile and fixed computing ". Microsoft sees his project as a technological break that would allow him to return to the race. And the stylus would play, if we believe the information of The Verge, a significant role in the strategy.
The future will tell if Microsoft has found the martingale. But as The Verge says, sources close to the case say that Microsoft could " unplug the plug " at any time. Will Redmond succeed in inventing the post-smartphone terminal?
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