Microsoft is preparing for the arrival of Foldable devices which are coming later this year with Samsung leading.
The company is already working on a foldable-device version of Windows 10, according to a new report from The Verge.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is heavily investing in making Windows and Surface ready for foldable devices as well as dual-screen hardware, according to the story. The operating system software and many of its built-in applications need to be optimized to work across foldable dual-screen technology and the midst of doing so.
Further proof that Microsoft is the midst of working on software for foldable devices comes to us from the Twitter account, @BuildFeed, which tracks the latest Windows build releases. On Monday, BuildFeed spotted the first Windows 10 build for foldable devices.
Along with its software, Microsoft has also been experimenting with their own foldable hardware. Rumors have long swirled about a foldable tablet device. In 2017, a patent granted to Microsoft for a foldable surface phone was uncovered. In 2018, an internal leak from Microsoft detailed plans for a dual-screen foldable Surface device, codenamed Andromeda.
Foldable devices have been a long time coming. Samsung had previously promised that its foldable smartphone would arrive by 2018. Obviously, that didn’t happen. Even Apple is rumored to have a foldable iPhone under development.
As the technology has continued to develop, it’s looking more and more like 2019 is the year we’ll see the first foldable device available for purchase. Microsoft is smartly preparing now for the inevitable, whether or not foldable devices are a hit with consumers.