Microsoft shows no signs of giving up on its less than stellar sales of its Surface tablets. The company is expected to launch a Surface Mini and Surface Pro 3 at a May 20 event.
When Microsoft first announced the Surface RT and Surface Pro in June 2012, it was a surprise to many to see Microsoft launch its own hardware and run Windows 8 just like its Windows 8 licensees. Microsoft's tablets took a two-pronged approach to compete with Apple's extremely popular full-sized iPad lineup. The Surface RT ran a watered down version of Windows 8 called Windows RT. The OS looks and feels like the Windows 8 experience on a desktop or laptop, but Windows RT was created to run on ARM processors, use a simplified mobile OS, and come in at a price cheaper than Apple.
Microsoft was applauded initially, but when the Surface and Surface Pro began to ship the devices were plagued with issues and Microsoft took a $900 million hit on its Surface RT model last year. That loss wasn't enough for Microsoft to flee the tablet market, as it followed up with the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 in October 2013. The Surface 2 runs Windows RT, while the Surface Pro runs the full desktop version of Windows 8 and has some laptop innards.
Get ready to be introduced to two new Surface tables in the very near future. Microsoft is holding a Surface event on May 20, where it is expected to launch a smaller version of the Surface RT and introduce the Surface Pro 3.
We reported on the Surface Mini recently and one of its standout features will reportedly include a Wacom digitizer to give it advanced stylus support. It will run Windows RT and will compete with Apple's iPad mini with Retina display, Google's Nexus 7, and Samsung's Galaxy Tabs.
The Surface Pro 3 is expected to keep the same design of the Surface Pro 2, run Windows 8.1 and powered by an Intel Haswell processor, which offers faster speeds and power savings as well.
We'll be covering Microsoft's Surface event and will bring you the latest news.
