Did Microsoft accidentally out their foldable "Surface phone"?

Rumours have been rife on the blogosphere of Microsoft pushing a foldable Surface device as its next take on mobile devices. WHile there has been no hard proof here or there, but some circumstantial evidence, Microsoft may have just set the rumour mill into overdrive with a new post featuring a device that looks close to what people would imagine such a Surface would look like.

Hey #Devs! Learn how to develop & deploy Node.js web #apps in #Azure with this live virtual class: https://t.co/12TnoS1dgA pic.twitter.com/H1hIMlNWrM

— Microsoft Azure (@Azure) July 18, 2017

It’s very much a concept shot and not a real product, but it does make one wonder.  AAWP’s Steve Litchfield brings a measured WIndows phone fan perspective to this, noting “This is pretty exciting, though take a deep breath. This could be a concept mock-up – and at the very most an early prototype. There’s nothing whatsoever online about an official product or release details.”

To that, I would have to add that if Microsoft were returning to the mobile handset market, they would be very unlikely to reveal it via a tweet.

This isn’t the first foldable tablet Microsoft has been rumoured to make. In 2011, Microsoft killed its Courier tablet, with the only explanation being that “At any given time, across any of our business groups, there are new ideas being investigated, tested, and incubated. It’s in Microsoft’s DNA to continually develop and incubate new technologies to foster productivity and creativity. The “Courier” project is an example of this type of effort and its technologies will be evaluated for use in future Microsoft offerings, but we have no plans to build such a device at this time”

Microsoft may very well be testing a foldable Surface mobile in its labs, but until such a device is announced on stage and prepared for sale, it is as much vaporware as the Surface Mini, McLaren and other cancelled hardware products.