Microsoft raised some eyebrows last year when its fourth quarter earnings included references to an unreleased new form factor Surface. We can now safely say that the mystery device was a 7-inch Windows tablets which could have been called the Surface Mini.
The device was revealed by Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Devices, Panos Panay, in an interview with Wired. Panay explained that he used to keep the device by his bedside for taking notes in the middle of the night. It was like a Moleskine,” he says. “It was awesome.”
Unfortunately, that’s all we will hear about the Surface Mini. It was pulled from a potential launch alongside the Microsoft Surface 3 last year for unknown reasons. However, user manuals made reference to the design; despite it not officially existing.
This is not to say that Microsoft will not release a smaller Surface device in the future. It has already expanded its operations from tablets to include the new Surface Book laptop. That being said, there is probably a very good reason for Microsoft not launching the Surface Mini; although we will likely never learn what it is.
[Source: Wired]
