Microsoft has once again hinted there will be a Surface Phone release date but the conditions for the event to happen have yet to be realized. But one thing is sure - when the device is unpacked it will be of a different breed from the smartphones seen today.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella dropped clues anew that a smartphone will be part of the Surface line but it will be a unique handset, The Verge reported. "I'm sure we'll make more phones ... But they may not look like phones that are there today," the Microsoft chief was quoted by the report as saying.

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Previously, Nadella said a Windows 10 mobile phone is in the works and the development already underway. He characterized the handset as an "ultimate mobile device," or a hardware that will serve as a game-changer. But the company stopped short of providing the juicy details - what will be the make and when it is coming out.

One possible template for the Surface Phone will be the Surface tablets, according to Tech Radar. It appears that Microsoft is convinced that the 2-in-1 business has room for expansion.

"No one before us thought of 2-in-1s and we created that category and made it a successful category to the point where there are more 2-in-1s coming," Nadella was reported by Tech Radar as saying, somehow indicating that when realized the Surface Phone will boast of hybrid device functionalities.

And true enough, a Microsoft patent was recently unearthed that pointed to the possibility of a Windows 10-powered device that is both a smartphone and a fully-working tablet when folded out. This could be one of the visions playing on Nadella's mind.

Such a unique hardware, according to The Verge, will not be seen very soon. It appears that Microsoft is bent to design the Surface Phone as "a device that could transform from a phone into a laptop or PC," the report said.

For that to happen Microsoft engineers will need first to push Continuum into near-perfection and make desktop apps more optimal for the Windows Store. And since any of the two is yet to be realized, it will still be a long wait for the actual Surface Phone release date, which is rumored to happen in late 2018 or 2019.