Microsoft Prepares A 7 Inch Surface Tablet

Microsoft have decided to release a 7 inch version of their not so popular Surface Tablet. The original plan was to keep only the original 11 inch design, and Microsoft even wrote screen resolution restrictions into Windows 8 so that it couldn’t be used on smaller screens.

The official name of the “7 inch Surface” is yet to be announced, but this tablet is to the Surface RT what iPad mini is to the iPad, a smaller and more economical alternative to compete with Googles Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire HD and other tablets at around a 7-8 inch screen size.

According to the Wall Street Journal, who got this information from “a familiar Microsoft projects source“; Microsoft never planned to launch such a product. But after the dismal failure of the 11 inch Surface and Surface RT (whose high prices are said to be the main cause of the failure), have certainly caused Microsoft to change their mind. The tablets under 8 inches represent half of market, according to research firm IDC. So Microsoft would really be quite stupid not to enter this market.

Mass production is scheduled to begin towards the end of the year, but the official launch date is still unknown. By then other manufacturers could offer Windows RT tablets of the same size, following the relaxation of the minimum resolution. They probably will accompany the release of Windows RT 8.1 (code name Windows Blue), expected this summer.

What do you guys think? Is a 7 inch tablet from Microsoft a game changer, or are they simply too late to an already established game? You comments are always welcome below…