HP is preparing to launch a new Windows 10 phone in early 2017

After Microsoft announced the discontinuation of their Lumia phones with a heavy heart, the company has since been collaborating with third-party firms in hopes of reviving the Windows 10 Mobile ecosystem again.

We will continue to support and update the Lumia devices that are currently in the market, and the development of Windows 10 phones by OEMs, such as HP, Acer, Alcatel, VAIO, and Trinity; as well as develop great new devices.

This time, HP has stepped up and taken it upon themselves to launch a next-generation Windows powered, consumer phone by February 2017.

While Windows users were anxiously waiting for some news regarding the release of a Surface Phone from Microsoft’s side, HP emerged as a savior. The company will ostensibly cover the majority of the workload, which includes the manufacture and sale of the upcoming handset, while Microsoft is left with taking responsibility for investing in the product development.

So, any residual hopes of an upcoming Surface Phone are long gone. But considering the massive applause HP’s Elite X3 received, HP taking the steering wheel for this might actually prove to be beneficial. Although the Elite X3 is a business targeted phone, details from German site Dr. Windows report that HP is working with Microsoft on a Windows 10 Mobile device that’s specifically aimed at consumers.

Details on the device are pretty lean at the moment, but the phone is rumored to be immensely inspired by the design and specifications of Microsoft’s Lumia phones, inheriting features like ClearBlack screens, Glance, double tap to wake and more, all of which previously existed in Lumia devices.

Given the limited expertise HP has as a smartphone manufacturer, taking incentive from the professionals in the domain would be a smart move. The upcoming device could very well be called a successor to HP Elite X3, which was announced last February.

Predicting the hardware specs of the upcoming HP consumer phone, it is going to be a guaranteed upgrade from their Elite X3 that uses a Snapdragon 820 processor and 4 GB of RAM, so we can expect improved and advanced internals conceivably including a Snapdragon 835 and 6 GB of RAM.

Although the posh price tag labeled on Elite X3 devices kept away most consumers and marked it as a business phone, the HP/Microsoft collaboration is certainly aiming to change that with their new project. Given the hard time Microsoft has been facing lately in the smartphone domain, the alliance is undoubtedly a blessing in disguise for the company.

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