Microsoft Surface Phone release date: Will it come with trackpoint/fingerprint reader, update

Microsoft Surface Phone release date: Will it come with trackpoint/fingerprint reader, update

Microsoft Surface Phone release date: Will it come with trackpoint/fingerprint reader, update

Microsoft Surface Phone rumors are not slowing down a bit. Notwithstanding reports that the very promising Microsoft Surface Phone will not be launched this year, rumors about the handset(s) are spreading like wildfire.

For more than a year, we are being bombarded with reports of imminent release of Microsoft's Surface Phone, but without any luck. The handset was expected to be launched towards the end of the year 2015. But the year passed and the Redmond based tech giant didn't even bother to show any development in this regard.

Nonetheless things have improved a bit as Microsoft seems enthused by the next generation smartphone.

There is no denying the fact that the new computing devices are shrinking in size and it seems to be the main reason why Microsoft is shifting its focus to develop a trackpoint, or "thumb mouse." The idea is quite interesting and more so if it hides a practical surprise: a fingerprint sensor that could be used to enable Windows Hello.

A report in the leading Windows blog that attracts large number of Microsoft fans, Windows Central, says that a patent was recently filed by Microsoft for a low-profile pointing device with an optional optical sensor beneath it which may be used for identification purposes and for navigation. It is not known whether the patent will be approved, or that the trackpoint will ever ship within a Microsoft device but it shows that Microsoft is thinking quite well about the evolution of its hardware.

It must be kept in mind that the biometric identification was sold as a way to secure phones and other mobile devices but its convenience lends itself to other scenarios. We can secure our Windows PCs with a four-digit PIN but using facial recognition or a fingerprint sensor is seen as a more a secure way. The Windows Hello technology of the Redmond-based firm is a key feature of Windows 10 and the company is hopeful that users will soon start using this technology over passwords at various sites around the Web.

Such rumors make the handset(s) look all the more promising. The patent filing of Microsoft is quite broad covering anything from a more traditional trackpoint, or "nipple mouse," like those on Lenovo's ThinkPad notebooks, to things with a slightly larger surface area. Microsoft has so far refrained from putting a physical trackpoint inside its Surface devices. Stay tuned for more details here.

Source: Microsoft Surface Phone release date: Will it come with trackpoint/fingerprint reader, update