Late last year, Microsoft surprised many with the announcement of the Surface-branded headphones. The premium peripheral has opened the door to the company exploring where else they can apply the Surface branding and the next stop appears to be a pair of earbuds.
According to multiple sources who are familiar with the company’s plans, Microsoft is currently working on a pair of earbuds under the code name of Morrison. The company is looking to capitalize upon the development of its audio tech by expanding its portfolio to cover the two major categories of headphones: over-ear and in-ear.
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This isn’t Microsoft’s first adventure into the earbud segment, the company previously sold earbuds with its Zune music player several years ago. And with wireless earbuds being a quickly growing segment with Apple leading the way and Amazon likely joining the party soon, Microsoft will be entering a saturated market but that has never stopped them in the past.
The codename for this product is a bit different than others we have seen come out of the Microsoft camp when it comes to hardware. There are devices like Andromeda and Centaurus that use astrological names but the original Surface Headphone name was Joplin – likely related to Scott Joplin (or actually, Janis Joplin), an American composer known for his ragtime music.
Morrison is likely related to Jim Morrison, who was the lead singer of the Doors and is considered to be a classic American rock star. As for the name, Surface Buds has been tossed around but I don’t know if that will be the retail name when they do arrive.
As for features, the details about how Microsoft will differentiate this hardware from other players isn’t fully clear yet. But, by looking at what the Surface Headphones offer, Cortana integration, noise cancellation, and what I have heard, is a way to improve interactions between a phone and the earbuds to make reading content easier on the phone, are all on the agenda for this hardware.
When will these earbuds become available? That I don’t fully know yet as project timelines often slip and products do get canceled; a 2019 release does seem plausible but is not guaranteed.
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#420784">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>yeah they're always chasing: surface pro, book, laptop, studio, hub, hololens, continuum, uwp, kinect… </p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#420784">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>To be fair, Apple does that a lot too. And, of course, Apple was hardly the first company to produce wireless earbuds.</p>
Stooks
<blockquote><em><a href="#420784">In reply to Winner:</a></em></blockquote><p>I had BETTER blue tooth ear buds prior to my Apple Earpods. Did Apple chase everyone else? I think one of the big reasons Apple ditched that charging pad was because there are hundreds of options out there already and no one would care.</p><p><br></p><p>Once the battery dies on my Earpods, which is happening after about 2 years for most, I wont buy another pair. They are good but not as comfortable as others for sure.</p>
Bats
<p>Lol…I have no problem work Microsoft wanting to do this, but….</p><p><br></p><p>"<span style="color: rgb(49, 50, 51);">Following on the success of the Surface Headphones, "</span></p><p><br></p><p>The Surface headphones were successful? Lol… Really? Seriously? Uh… Where are the stats? Where are the stats that say that the Surface headphones were successful? </p><p><br></p><p>This statement made me laugh as the time Brad declared the Surface Pro the"darling" and"savior" of the PC industry.</p><p><br></p>
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#420937">In reply to irfaanwahid:</a></em></blockquote><p>1- surface pro</p><p>2- surface book</p><p>3- surface studio</p><p>4- surface hub</p><p><br></p><p>give them a break :)</p><p><br></p><p>they should have used surface also for hololens :)</p>