Microsoft is reportedly working on a new handset powered by the Windows 10 Mobile OS and the release date has been set later this 2017. However, the device is not the rumored Surface Phone, which according to a new source will not come out until late 2018 or 2019.

In a post published by Windows Report, a former Microsoft contractor supposedly claimed "Microsoft will release a new phone this year." While the specs and details of the device were not provided by the source, which the report described as a low-level employee once contracted by the tech giant, it was understood that the device will get introduced anytime this year.

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But when exactly the rollout date will take place this 2017, the report only indicated "that a release is still planned."

The claim while unsubstantiated makes sense as Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 Redstone 3 Update will be deployed in the last quarter of 2017 and speculations are rife that there will be showcase device to demonstrate the new features packed with the operating system. If not the Surface Phone, then it has to be handset that is equally optimized for Windows 10's mobile version.

As for the Surface Phone, the same source appears convinced that the device "will probably arrive in late 2018 or 2019." This is based on earlier reports that Microsoft's "ultimate mobile device" will be powered by ARM-based chips that will permit x86 apps emulation.

"I think Windows 10 ARM is much further away than some of us hope," the report quoted the source as saying, somehow hinting that the device to fully deliver Windows desktop capabilities on a mobile handset will not materialize in the coming months, or at least anytime in 2017.

To be clear, the former Microsoft contractor said that details on the Surface Phone have been tightly guarded, which "seems to be part of some strategy." But the source is upbeat on the prospect of the rumored device, saying that "so far everything Nadella touched has worked out very good for Microsoft."

Nadella, of course, is Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who earlier this year fired up rumors and conversations on the Surface Phone when he declared that once released the unique mobile device will be a game-changer.