Rumors of a Microsoft Surface Phone have been doing the rounds for some years now, but it seems now that Redmond has given us some concrete evidence that the chimerical smartphone is on its way. This follows an interview with Microsoft’s Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela and Windows Weekly.

During the interview, a round-up of Microsoft’s highs and lows of 2015, Capossela told a triumvirate of Microsoft pundits, including Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurott, that Microsoft is presently working on a “breakthrough” phone that is not going to be a Lumia – although he also didn’t say that it was going to be part of the Surface line, either. It probably will be, however, given what Capossela said.

“We need more breakthrough work,” said Capossela, adding, “With Surface we had a bunch of early misfires, but that notion of a tablet that could replace your laptop. That notion of saying, ‘Hey, Apple wants to sell you an iPad, and they want to sell you a Mac,’ we think there’s one device that exploits the seam between those two devices. We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side that doesn’t just feel like a phone for people who love Windows.”

It’s uncertain what the phone will look like, but using concept renders, Nadir Aslam has put together what he thinks we will get: an elegant hybrid phone with a detachable keyboard and kickstand so that it becomes a laptop; a phone that connects to your monitor and becomes your PC.

It’s unlikely Microsoft’s new Lumia phones will make much of a change to consumer choices, but a new Surface Phone might be what Microsoft needs to make a challenge in the phone market. Capossela did not say exactly when we are going to see this device, asking that people be patient while Microsoft makes their ideas a reality.

Photo credit: concept device by Nadir Aslam