During its earning call with investors for the fourth fiscal quarter, Microsoft revealed the Surface Pro 3 is off to a good start. Chief financial officer Amy Hood though declined to reveal any figures in support of her claims, except that the Pro 3 is selling more than any other Surface iterations launched, so far.

The CFO further confirmed previous rumours about the Surface Mini, saying the tablet's launch was, indeed, cancelled at the last moment after much deliberation, reports BGR.

Coming back to the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft is continuing with the process of launching more variations of the device to cater to a wider price segment. The latest effort on this front is a cheaper Surface Pro 3 variant which, according to an AnandTech report, is priced $799. The report further revealed the cheaper Pro 3 variant is slated for release on Aug 1 and uses a fourth-generation Core i3 heart to arrive at the cheaper price point.

The $799 entry level Surface Pro 3 spec sheet reads like this: a 1.5-Ghz Intel Core i3 chip, Intel HD 4200 GPU, 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage. Unfortunately, no battery times are available at the moment, which the AnandTech report mentioned will require some more days of testing to arrive at the most conclusive figure.

Microsoft has launched the Surface Pro 3 recently. At 12 inches, it is the biggest in the Surface line-up, so far, but is also the lightest and slimmest. Microsoft claimed the Surface Pro 3 is a "tablet that can replace your laptop" to promote the device (see ad video below).

A review of the device did prove the Surface Pro 3 does live up to the tagline. "With only a couple of compromises, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 replaced my old Windows 8 notebook and a MacBook Pro quite well. I’m not ready to sell my MacBook yet, but I’m very happy with Microsoft’s 2-in-1 device," says Kevin Purcell of GottabeMobile.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also started accepting pre-orders for the Pro 3 docking station which it claims will transform the Surface Pro 3 into full-blown desktop PC. The docking station is priced $199.99 and offers a few more slots and ports.

(Credit: YouTube/surface)