New Microsoft's 'Surface Pro (3)' to Debut With 'Surface Mini' on 20th May
Last week, we reported that Microsoft will be unveiling a compact version of their Surface tablet dubbed 'Surface Mini' in an event scheduled for May 20th in New York. But according to recent reports, Microsoft is planning to announce multiple Surface devices, in addition to the much awaited Surface Mini.
New Surface Pro (3) Tablet
The new device from Microsoft will be a new Intel-powered Surface tablet. According to CNet (via an anonymous source), "There's definitely a new Intel-based Surface. From what I can assess so far I think it's going to have a new power-optimized Haswell variant and not an Atom processor like Intel's Bay Trail."
The indication of 'Haswell chip' from Intel would likely point to a new version of Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet, most probably a "Surface Pro 3" running the latest version of Microsoft's Windows 8.1 operating system, claims BGR.
It is worth noting that, the Surface Pro models have always used Intel processors. The Surface Pro 2 in specific uses an Intel Core i5-4300U processor which is again a Haswell chip device.
New Surface Mini Tablet
The 'Surface Mini' is expected to house either a 7 or 8 inches display, and the device is an ARM-based device running on Microsoft's Windows RT platform with a Qualcomm chip and not an Intel one.
According to PCPro, the device will feature a 7.5 inches display with 1,400 x 1,050 pixels resolution. In addition, the tablet might support mobile connectivity.
If rumors were to be believed, the Surface Mini tablet will support a 'pen' similar to Wacom Digitizer and is expected to be marketed as a note-taking device, claims PCPro.
It is quite natural for Microsoft to try smaller tablets since their bigger counterparts are not living up to market expectations. Also it is worth noting that, even though the profits from Microsoft's Surface tablets were not ground breaking; it helped in the arrival of many third-party Windows tablets, by which Microsoft is gaining good licensing revenue.
We will get more information on the specifications and other details very soon on the upcoming Surface Mini and Surface Pro tablets from Microsoft.