We’ve been hearing for quite sometime the possibility of a Surface “Mini” from Microsoft and now the rumors seem to be in full speed as new report suggests that Microsoft indeed is working on an 8-inch tablet under the Surface brand.
According to WPDang website the new Surface Mini will borrow some functionality from Kinect as the report claims the 8-inch tablet will be able to recognize people faces, which can be utilize as another form of authentication, and Surface Mini it is said to have hands-free gestures capabilities for certain operations similar to the Galaxy S4 gesture features.
As for the hardware specification for the Surface Mini goes, the tablet may feature an 8-inch 1920 x 1080 pixels full-HD screen resolution and either an ARM or Intel Bay Trail-based processor — the article is not very clear on this hardware specification –.
On a related topic, Microsoft is also working on the Windows 8.1 “Update 1” software release, which is scheduled to appear in spring 2014 and it will include support for smaller form factor Surface tablet, as such we shouldn’t expect a mini-Surface before this update is released.
The software giant is also planning to unify the versions of Windows for consumers with the Threshold update which may also come before the end of 2014. The interesting information about this new change is that Microsoft will include a mobile version of its operating system, much like Windows RT, but with the difference that it will run on ARM and Intel-based devices. As you can see this is where we can’t assume that Microsoft will ship its Surface Mini with an ARM-based processor.
SEE ALSO: Microsoft may ship Windows Threshold earlier than expected
Like always, information from rumors should be taken with a grain of salt as Microsoft has yet to officially reveal more details.
Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].