It was the seemingly innocuous tweet that has sent ripples across the tech community. Well, at least those that follow Microsoft-related tech news. It seems that the normally reclusive Vice President of Microsoft devices Panos Panay tweeted out a “normal” holiday greeting but the fact that he used a Surface Duo coupled with a hand-drawn holographic message made experts and even casual observers speculate about if this means anything for the future of the latest or even upcoming version of the laptop/tablet hybrid.
Normally, a tweet like this would go unnoticed or uncommented on, but someone like Panay rarely tweets both in his personal and professional capacity. So when he does, seemingly for both in just one tweet, people are paying attention and even analyzing what it all means. On the, well, surface, it seems like just a simple Happy Holiday greeting from him and the Surface Team. But of course, people got curious and excited about possible future implications on the device.
Happy Holidays from the Surface Team #SurfaceDuo https://t.co/yqYXDkwakm pic.twitter.com/F8PYfvwTJL — Panos Panay (@panos_panay) December 25, 2019
The most popular theory, of course, is that the Surface Duo will come with holographic abilities when it is released in 2020. “Detail scrubbing investigator,” The Walking Cat said that previously there were some patents that were talking about “displaying holograms floating above screens” which is what Panay’s Christmas message seems to be doing. The Twitter account also cited previous rumors that said Microsoft wants “to build a holographic display”.
Panay has of course, not responded to any of the speculations and so people will continue to have their theories or we can just accept it as just a normal holiday greeting. However, from what we know, Microsoft’s Surface and Windows team are working on new dual-screen hardware as well as software features. They have also been keen on augmented reality and holographic technology the past years, so if we do get a surprise with the Surface Duo, it’s as expected.
We’ll find out in a few months whether this means anything at all. OnMSFT says Microsoft is expected to release two dual-screen devices by next year so that’s something to look forward to as well.