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Microsoft Ditched Plans to Launch Surface Mini Alongside Surface Pro 3: Report

Microsoft Ditched Plans to Launch Surface Mini Alongside Surface Pro 3: Report

By Robin Sinha | Updated: 21 May 2014 16:24 IST

Microsoft reportedly called off the idea of introducing a smaller sized Surface tablet, the much-anticipated Surface Mini, alongside the Surface Pro 3. According to a report quoting people close to the matter, Nadella and Elop decided against the Surface Mini tablet because it was no different than rivals that are already present in the market.

Before dropping the plans, Microsoft had intended to showcase the smaller Surface device alongside the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, reported the unnamed officials to Bloomberg.

The sources added that Microsoft was working closely with Qualcomm, a popular chip maker, for the past one year for the Surface Mini until Stephen Elop (Executive Vice President) and Satya Nadella (CEO) declined to give a green flag to the device. The rumoured Surface Mini was being tipped as the first one to be powered by a Qualcomm processor as till now Microsoft has been relying on Nvidia for its Surface RT tablets.

However, the hope for a Surface Mini tablet is not completely lost yet. The firm might be waiting for a better time frame to come out with the device. While both Microsoft and Qualcomm declined to comment on the issue, Daniel Ives, an Analyst at FBR Capital Markets & Co, has made his point clear in the report.

"No mini is a minor disappointment to some, although we would rather Microsoft put all their eggs in the Surface Pro basket at this point" he stated. "We can still see a mini at one point, but not likely until 2015." However, it still remains to be seen what Microsoft is planning with its Surface Mini as nothing is clear as of now.

Microsoft on Wednesday announced its awaited Surface Pro 3 tablet with a 12-inch display. The company at the launch event spoke about how the tablet was the perfect laptop replacement, with its screen size an important factor in improved productivity. With such a theme for the event, it would have been hard to introduced a smaller, and therefore less productive tablet - Microsoft is not known for its 'fun' image.

Running Windows 8.1 OS, the Surface Pro 3 is claimed to be 10 percent faster than the Surface Pro 2, apart from being thinner at 9.1mm. The tablet starts at $799, and is available for pre-orders.

(Also see: Microsoft Unveils Surface Pro 3 With 12-Inch 2160x1440 Pixel Display)

The Surface Pro 3 comes in a choice of Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The 12-inch 2160x1440 pixel display features a 3:2 aspect that supposedly delivers more surface area or visual real-estate to work with. The company boasts of the Surface Pro 3 display's contrast ratio, which it claims is the highest in the industry.

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