Yes, what you’re about to read is real life. Microsoft just announced it will start taking pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Microsoft Edition. Interested customers will be able to grab the phone starting with April 21 from brick-and-mortar Microsoft Stores in the US.
While details about the exact level of customization we should expect to see on the two phones are pretty scarce at the moment, it seems quite likely Microsoft is going to offer these phones with a bunch of its proprietary apps pre-installed including Office, OneDrive, Cortana, Outlook and more.
Microsoft also announced the prices for two phones. The Galaxy S8 will retail for approximately $995 CAD ($749), while the Galaxy S8+ will go on sale with a $1,128 CAD ($849) price-tag attached to it. It’s unknown whether the Redmond giant will expand availability of the phones beyond the US or not.
Microsoft and Samsung have had a close partnership for the last years. Back in 2024 at CES the two companies pulled the wraps off the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S tablet which run Windows 10 out of the box.
Samsung is not the only Android OEM playing nice with Microsoft. For example, the Xiaomi Mi MIX also ships with pre-installed Microsoft apps.
[ZDNET]