Microsoft could soon expand its range of Surface tablets with the company’s CFO suggested that an upcoming Microsoft Surface Mini release is a possibility.
Teasing a device that would line up as a direct rival to the current dominant factors of the 7-inch tablet scene, the iPad mini and Google Nexus 7, Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer, Peter Klein has hinted that the Redmond-based Apple rival has not ruled out the prospect of a Microsoft Surface Mini tablet.
“We’re really set up [for making a 7-inch tablet]” Klein said at the recent Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference when questioned on the potential for a 7-inch Microsoft Surface Mini tablet. “The notion of flexibility and the scalability of the operating system is actually intrinsic to our vision and our strategy.”
Suggesting that Microsoft has done a lot of ‘learning’ since launching its first hardware option in the form of the Microsoft Surface tablet, Klein has claimed that the company has the aspirations and abilities to expand its hardware lines from smartphones to all-in-one PCs, and at all stopping points in-between.
“We talk a lot about devices and services, and when we say devices and services, we mean a set of experience that are complete, that are compelling, and that are consistent across a whole range of form factors and devices, including size of form factor,” Klein said. “We can have the same core code base driving form factors from four inches all the way up to 27-inch ones and everything in between.”
Offering further insight into Microsoft’s future roadmap and the possibility for a Microsoft Surface Mini tablet release, Klein added: “I think we are well set up to respond to demand as we see it. We can deliver a versatile set of experiences across form factors, whether they’re four-inch, five-inch, seven-inch, 10-inch or 13-inch.”
Whilst the existing Microsoft Surface tablet options have failed to grab consumer interest over the likes of the iPad 4, with poor sales reported following the tablet’s pre-Christmas launch, a number of recent rumours have suggested that Microsoft could back up the existing Microsoft Surface Pro and Microsoft Surface RT with a trio of new tablets in 2013.
Although a 7-inch model is not amongst the three mooted arrivals, it has been claimed that the current 10.1-inch models will be followed up by a new 8.6-inch Microsoft Surface RT 2, a revision of the existing Microsoft Surface Pro, and a larger, 14.6-inch Microsoft Surface Book tablet.
What’s more, Microsoft has also been rumoured to be heading into the smartphone sector, with an own-branded, Windows Phone 8 packing, Microsoft Surface Phone tipped for a mid-2013 arrival. The as yet unconfirmed handset is reportedly in construction at Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer responsible for piecing together Apple’s handsets.
Would you be interested in a Microsoft Surface Mini tablet or are you happy with the Apple and Android devices already on offer? Let us know via the TrustedReviews Twitter and Facebook feeds or through the comment boxes below.
Via: AllThingsD
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