Latest Surface Mini Developments: @evleak Pitches for its Summer Launch, Experts Refute

In the latest with the series of flip flops that we have seen with the Microsoft Surface Mini, the device might be seen hitting production lines this summer, claims noted leakster @evleaks. Such a revelation comes on the back of an earlier report that claimed Microsoft to have shelved the entire plan just when the device was ready to enter mass production phase, stated Digitimes. The Taiwan based site further claimed it could have much to do with tablets such as iPad Mini, Nexus 7 or the Kindle Fire already having a formidable presence in the small tablet segment that might have forced Microsoft to rethink their strategy.

However, in a contrasting report that refutes the usually reliable @evleaks' claim, Microsoft is perhaps least likely to press ahead with the launch of the mini Surface device any time before 2015, claims Mary Zo Foley in a report on ZDNet. She has based her report with inputs from her sources that claim the real reason for the Redmond company to backtrack on the project is that the company's development team is yet to finish with the Gemini apps for Windows 8.x. Mary is of the view that it would be almost suicidal for Microsoft to press ahead with the Surface Mini launch without enough of these apps populating its store.

The report also claimed that Microsoft is yet to complete development with the touch-oriented Office version which is believed to be applicable to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint along with maybe even Outlook. However, things are yet to reach even the public beta stage with this though Mary is of the opinion that Microsoft will be looking for an Android launch for the suite before targeting Windows.

Microsoft had earlier launched the Surface Pro 3 during an event in May 20 that many had expected will yield the Surface Mini. Corporate vice president for Surface Computing, Panos Panay has stated that the company is working on smaller Surface versions in an interview with Bloomberg after the May event. Panos though declined to commit to any expected launch window for the mini Surface version. There has even been mention of the Surface Mini in the Surface Pro 3's online manual, as revealed in PCWorld. This does point towards the company pulling the plug on Surface Mini at about the last moment.

Microsoft refused to shed any light to the ongoing controversy. When contacted by ZDNet, all that the company revealed is that they don't respond to rumors and speculations.