Microsoft wants to repeat success of Surface tablet in smartphone market

Microsoft is developing a last-gasp 'iPhone killer' in its bid to take on Apple and Google. The firm hopes its 'Surface Phone' could become as popular as the Surface tablet. 'We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side, that doesn't just feel like a phone for people who love Windows,' Microsoft's CMO Chris Capossela said. 'I think we have to do more breakthrough work' to make Apple fans 'pause before they buy their 17th iPhone,' he said on an episode of the 'Windows Weekly' podcast.
 
While Microsoft has had success with tablets and now a laptop, the company's smartphone marketshare is just 3% globally. To do something that I really think would compete,' Capossela says, 'we need time to actually go build that.' Capossela says, the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet line succeeded by merging the laptop and tablet into one device, providing the best of both worlds.
 
It is believed a Surface Phone could also take this approach. Windows 10 Mobile, the company's latest smartphone operating system, has a feature called Continuum which lets you hook your phone up to a TV or monitor and use it almost like a PC.
 
Previously, it had been rumored that Microsoft is giving the Surface Phone an ability to run full Windows software, not just apps from the Windows Store market, according to Tech Insider. Microsoft has also recently launched several apps for other phones. In the battle of the virtual assistants, Siri and Google Now aren't the only ones competing.
 
Six months after Microsoft announced plans to bring Cortana to iOS, the digital concierge has officially started beta testing on Apple's platform. The software company has selected 2,000 iPhone users to participate in the testing of Cortana, which combines features from Siri and Google Now into one package. 

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