Microsoft's "Small" gathering could mean big news
Microsoft has called an event for May 20 in New York, where it could announce the Surface Mini. The invitation says the event will be a "small" gathering, and adds in the Surface brand name to tease us, leaving little doubt as to the day's major news.
Surface Mini rumors have spread for years
The first Surface Mini reports started appearing even before the first Surface tablets were officially announced, following a leaked document showing the possible spec for a 7-inch Surface tablet. It wasn't until April 2013 that we heard more, when the Wall Street Journal mentioned "a new lineup of Surface tablets, including a 7-inch version," would go into production by the end of the year. The 7-inch tablet was apparently a response to the popularity of the Nexus 7, the Kindle Fire, and all the many other examples available at the time.
Since then, things have changed slightly, and 7-inch tablets have fallen from grace in favor of models around 8-inches in size, such as the iPad Mini and the LG G Pad. Noted Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrott tweeted soon after the Wall Street Journal article was published, that he was told the "next Surface is an 8-inch model, not 7-inches." In September 2013, Mary Jo Foley, writing for ZDNet, said sources had informed her the launch of the Mini range had been delayed until spring 2014. One possible reason was Microsoft wanted to launch the tablets with a Windows 8.1 update, referred to as Spring 2014 GDR.
New screen size for Surface, and 4G LTE connectivity
Around the same time, analysts at IHS iSuppli said Microsoft was working on a tablet using Windows RT, and fitted with a 7.5-inch touchscreen. The resolution was listed as an unusual 1400 x 1050 pixels, with a 4:3 aspect ratio (like an iPad). This is unusual because existing Surface tablets have a 16:9 ratio. Speaking at a Surface press event last October, Microsoft's Panos Panay is quoted as saying the company was working on, "Multiple aspect ratios and sizes and awesome things to come from Surface," when asked about a smaller tablet.
In addition to altering the screen ratio, the Surface Mini may be separated from its larger brethren by having 3G and 4G LTE connectivity. This would be another first for Microsoft's tablet range, but some rumors say we'll see 3G/4G Surface 2 tablets before the Mini arrives. Rumors spread in September 2013 suggested the tablet would enter production sometime between January and March 2014. The same rumor attached an approximate $450 price tag to the Mini, making it less than the 16GB iPad Mini Retina with 4G.
Surface Mini could have an 8.5-inch screen
Moving into 2014, in January a tweet from @MSFTnerd's account said the Surface Mini would be announced before Microsoft revealed the third generation of full-size Surface tablets. The Surface 2 models will be a year old at the end of September, so Microsoft has plenty of time to meet this timeframe.
At the end of February, reports quoting sources inside the Taiwanese supply chain began appearing, reiterating much of what we'd heard before, by saying Microsoft was planning a range of new mobile devices with screen sizes below 8.5-inches. However, one new piece of information did emerge. Apparently Microsoft could use the Computex trade show scheduled for June to introduce them.
A new set of possible specifications popped up. The odd resolution heard in previous rumors was replaced by a more standard 1080p pixel count, and instead of Windows RT, it would run the full version of Windows 8.1, complete with the first major software update installed. An Intel Bay Trail processor was also mentioned.
Kinect-style gesture controls possible
Another difference between the Mini and other Surface tablets could be Kinect-style gesture controls with added face recognition. A report published in China late last year put the idea forward, but didn't go into much detail. All we learned was that the tablet would track hand movements and work better than Samsung's Air Gesture system. Windows supports Kinect, and an updated version was demonstrated during the Build 2014 developer conference, so it's clear Microsoft is keen to make it a feature across multiple devices.
There has certainly been plenty of talk about a mini version of the Surface tablet, making it hard to dismiss all of it as pure speculation. The market is shifting more toward the 8-inch tablet at the moment too, leaving a large gap in Microsoft's tablet range. The need to fill it will only become more urgent as 2014 continues. If the Computex launch talk proves correct, we'll meet the Mini around June 3.
We'll continue tracking the rumors and gossip surrounding the Surface Mini, and will update this article accordingly when new information emerges.
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