Microsoft: Surface Mini might be on the way

Speaking at a Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference on Wednesday, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein revealed that a Surface Mini might be on the way. He didn't get into the details, but this is likely to be a 7" tablet to go head-a-head against the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire and iPad Mini. Whether the Surface Mini will run Windows Phone 8 or Windows 8 is also a question that remains unanswered.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs conference, Klein hammered home the fact that Microsoft — at long last — is capable of extending the Windows (Metro) experience to almost every form factor. “The notion of flexibility and scalability of the operating system is intrinsic to our strategy,” he says. On smaller devices, Microsoft has Windows Phone 8, and for everything else there’s Windows 8, Windows Server 8 and Windows Embedded 8. With the same kernel in both WP8 and Windows 8, and app cross-compatibility, it is in theory quite easy for Microsoft to create an almost-seamless ecosystem that spans the gamut from 4- to 40-inch displays.