The year ahead for Surface Duo
Microsoft’s mission to help every person and organization on the planet achieve more has never been more relevant as people search for new ways to be productive from anywhere. To this end, the Surface team has worked tirelessly to build a diverse set of devices to suit a variety of tasks and workstyles. Just this year, we’ve introduced Surface Book 3, Surface Go 2, Surface Laptop Go, a new Surface Pro X and of course, our first dual-screen device, Surface Duo.
Since introducing Surface Duo in August of 2020, people have asked when we would make this product available outside of the US. We’re pleased to share that in early 2021, we’ll be offering Surface Duo in Canada, United Kingdom, France and Germany. We’re excited to share more information at the beginning of 2021, so stay tuned for more.
With Surface Duo, we set out to unlock new levels of mobile productivity and reduce the need to reach for a larger screen to complete quick productivity tasks. With enhanced Microsoft 365 apps, productivity can take place across two distinct screens, enabling true multi-tasking. Whether viewing your Outlook Mail and Calendar side-by-side or seeing your colleagues and the presentation simultaneously on Teams, the magic of Surface Duo is the intersection of hardware and software in the palm of your hand.
There is incredible potential in this new device category to push the boundaries of productivity and creativity on a mobile device. We find inspiration in all the ways Surface Duo has sparked the imaginations of our customers and partners. It’s fantastic to see just how this product has unlocked new ways to get things done and we are honored to see TIME and others recognize Surface Duo as one of the best inventions of 2020. Customers have built productivity workflows with Microsoft 365 applications like Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, and Office. We’ve also heard from customers that have built their own App Groups to immerse themselves in their passions. View your ESPN Fantasy sports teams while simultaneously tracking scores in the NFL app, or take that Duolingo course while jotting down common phrases in Microsoft OneNote. We’ve heard from customers who open their Surface Duo as soon as they get in their car, with Spotify playing on one screen while Google Maps guides them to their destination on the other. There are numerous possibilities for personalizing your Surface Duo experience. We encourage you to explore these scenarios or create your own.
Customers love what Surface Duo allows them to accomplish with existing applications, and our partners are doing amazing work to optimize their experiences across two screens. At launch, we showcased Amazon Kindle and the incredible work they’ve done to allow you to read a book like a book on Surface Duo. Spotify has embraced dual-screen capabilities to improve music discovery. We’re excited to share that TikTok has released an enhanced app that brings entirely new experiences that light up on Surface Duo. Optimized for two screens, you can discover videos customized for you while, at the same time, exploring relevant hashtags, the latest trends, and more.
New enhanced app experiences are just one way in which Surface Duo keeps getting better and better.
Over these past few months, we’ve delivered app enhancements, software and Android security updates, and improvements to the Android platform at-large. Microsoft is the third-largest Android ISV in the world[1], and we’re proud of what we’ve been able to deliver since August. Customers have enjoyed hundreds of improvements to our first-party Android apps, benefiting anyone using Microsoft applications on Android. This ensures a healthy future for this dual-screen category and a stream of improved, delightful experiences for Surface Duo customers.
We love hearing from you and working with you to chart the course for Surface Duo. As we reflect on this past year and look ahead to the next, we see even more opportunity, and we’re excited to see how you bring your own experiences to life with Surface Duo.
On behalf of the entire Surface team, we wish you happy holidays and a happy, healthy new year.
Sign up to be notified when Surface Duo becomes available: Canada | United Kingdom | France | Germany.
To learn more about Surface Duo for Business, commercial customers can connect with their local Microsoft Authorized Commercial Reseller.
Be sure to check out Surface.com for the latest from across the Surface family of products.
[1] Based on App Annie data (apps under 1 company) from December 2020. https://www.appannie.com.
Source: The year ahead for Surface Duo
