Windows Phone 10 is already in development right now, but little is known about the project that’s expected to help Microsoft improve its market share in the mobile industry and compete against Android and iOS.

According to a new report by ZDNet and citing people close to the matter, Windows Phone 10 is very likely to make its first public appearance next month, on January 20 or 21, during a Windows 10 event that will bring us the very first consumer preview build for the desktop operating system.

Little is known about Windows Phone 10 at this point, but there’s no doubt that Microsoft will follow the same strategy as for Windows 10 and bring it to testers in preview form before rolling it out as a final product. The exact dates for these two releases are yet to be disclosed, but they will both happen in 2015, sources say.

Currently being tested behind closed doors

Windows Phone 10 has already been spotted online, so it’s pretty clear that work on this particular project is currently underway, but Microsoft is paying attention to its development tasks right now to make sure that no build gets leaked.

According to the same report, Windows Phone 10 is now being tested by a number of internal company employees, especially because it’s still in an early development stage.

Obviously, Microsoft wants to wait until Windows Phone 10 becomes more stable and reliable in order to release it to more company employees, and only then devices enrolled in the Preview for Developers will actually get it.

Also powering ARM tablets

One of the biggest changes that will take place in Windows Phone 10 will be a merger that will bring together the smartphone and the tablet Windows platforms. As a result, Windows Phone and Windows RT will merge into a single product powering both devices, so it appears that Microsoft’s tablet-oriented OS experiment is coming to an end.

What’s more, the aforementioned source claims that Windows Phone 10 could also be used for powering “less powerful Intel-based tablets,” but it’s yet unclear how this is going to work. The result of this merger will lead to just a single store hosting universal apps working on both types of devices.

Microsoft is expected to officially announce the January event later this month, but full details will only be provided during the conference itself. Obviously, don’t take these for granted, as there’s no confirmation from Microsoft or any other company employee involved in the development process.