Microsoft revealed an Android-powered smartphone last year. Known as the Surface Duo, it blurs the line between smartphones and tablets by offering separate displays that run apps simultaneously. You'll get the portability of a smartphone when utilizing a single display, but the Surface Duo can rely on a second display to offer more information from the same app or another. Now, we're getting an early look at the Surface Duo through some in-the-wild photographs that leaked online recently. It's our first real-world look at the dual-screen phone ahead of its release at the end of 2020.

The Surface Duo's public appearance took place on the SkyTrain in Vancouver. Twitter user Israel Rodriguez revealed what's either a Microsoft employee or a third-party developer using the in-development product. In a series of photographs as well as one video, the Surface Duo gets caught running several apps in its various modes.

Initially, the dual-screen phone runs only one app on one display. The other display, meanwhile, shows a home screen including apps such as Outlook, Google Maps, and YouTube. Next up, the photographs expose Microsoft's Outlook app running on both displays side-by-side. But the user also switches to a mode in which an app runs across the displays with the hinge splitting them along the horizontal axis. Microsoft still needs to define how apps share content among multiple displays, and Google has confirmed it's building such functionality directly into Android.

Al? galera do @TechTudo @olhardigital @canaltech @GizmodoBR eu tirei umas fotos e fiz uns vídeos do Surface Duo aqui no metr? de Vancouver. Tem interesse em divulgar o conteúdo? pic.twitter.com/eNerqaQ4Eg

— Israel Rodriguez (@yzraeu) February 7, 2020

Flipping one display behind the other, this user also offers a glimpse at gaming. It's a 5.6-inch display with a less traditional aspect ratio, but that's on purpose as Microsoft targets businesspeople with the Surface Duo. So gaming might not be ideal here. Everything else should operate fine, though, and seem less cramped.

No cameras appear on the outside of the Surface Duo, and thus Microsoft will likely encourage the interior selfie lens to do the job when flipping the display around. Some are also wondering if the white-colored circle inside represents the Surface Duo's LED flash. Previously, all Microsoft-approved images of the dual-screen phone didn't show the feature.

Watch the video below to see Microsoft's Surface Duo in action:

The Microsoft Launcher and some software-side tweaks will modify the Android's user interface. With customization possible on Google's mobile operating system, the Surface Duo should strike consumers as a unique smartphone. There's no reason to think Microsoft will rely heavily on stock Android. It'll behave like Android for the most part, but Microsoft wants to add its own touch.

Both the Surface Duo and the Surface Neo are due out this fall, but they're likely to be part of a larger lineup of refreshed or redesigned products. Microsoft could tweak the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop, or it an entirely new design language might roll out to align them with their multi-screen experiments. Typically, the Redmond-based company releases products that look (and feel) a lot like each other. So it looks like a busy period for Microsoft as it tests new form factors and reimagines its existing range of computers.

Further Reading

• Report: Apple Designing In-House 5G iPhone Antenna Module
• Report: LG and Samsung Are Developing Portable Displays for Phones
• Motorola Razr vs. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip: Which Is the Finest Foldable Phone?
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