Now that the Galaxy Note line looks like it's been put out to pasture, there's room for someone else to swoop in and carry the pen phone mantel. And who better to do that than the company that makes the Surface?
According to a new design patent filing reported on by Patently Apple, Microsoft is likely working on a Surface Phone, and one of the images shows a slot for a stylus on top.
Microsoft has made a big deal about inking features in Windows 10, and Windows Central says they're the best thing about the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. These features include a Sticky Pad, Sketchpad and Screen Sketch. They all live within Windows Ink Workspace.
MORE: iPhone 8 Rumors: What to Expect from the 10th Anniversary iPhone
With Sticky Pad, for example, you can quickly jot down a reminder with the Surface pen (or another 2-in-1 with a pen). Sketchpad is great for jotting or sketching out ideas on the fly; and Screen Sketch makes it easy to annotate and share screenshots.
The patent doesn't reveal how the pen will work, but it's safe to assume that any Universal Windows 10 app that supports pen input will work with a Surface Phone.
Patently Apple also notes that the phone doesn't seem to have a headphone jack. Instead, it appears that Microsoft will opt for a "single port that will double as a headphone jack." Our guess is that this will be USB-C. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus ditched the headphone jack in favor of the Lightning connector, and rumor has it that the Galaxy S8 will also make due with just a USB-C port.
MORE: Best Wireless Headphones
In a November interview, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella hinted that Microsoft was at work on the "ultimate mobile device," according to the Australian Financial Review. At the time, he said "We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today's market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device."
Given the emphasis on Continuum, or the ability to use your phone as a PC when connected to a desktop or laptop dock as with devices like the HP Elite X3, it's certainly possible that Microsoft will release a Surface phone that's caters to mobile professionals.
The Note 7 was for power users, and there's some features we already miss, such as the ability to take notes with the screen off and translating text. We're less broken up about losing the ability to create GIFs with a pen, as fun as that was initially.
Clearly, Microsoft has a chance to fill a void in the market, but it remains to be seen whether consumers — or even just mobile pros — are willing to jump to Windows 10 Mobile.
