Microsoft may not have announced a Surface tablet with a smaller screen yet. But that hasn’t stopped accessory maker Vostrostone from offering a line of Microsoft Surface Mini 8 inch tablet cases at Amazon.

Either Vostrostone knows something we don’t, or the company is guessing at the dimensions of the long-expected Surface Mini.

Microsoft Surface Mini

The company is offering a $10 Smart Cover Casee and a $33 Bluetooth Keyboard Portfolio Case. Both are described as “in stock on May 18th, 2014.”

Does that mean we can expect Microsoft’s tablet to be available in mid-May? Who knows.

Here’s what the listings do show though: a tablet with a small screen and the Windows Start Screen. The tablet seems to be designed for use in portrait mode, with a Windows button built into the bezel below the screen and a camera above. Those items are positioned for landscape orientation on Microsoft’s 10.6 inch tablets.

It’s not clear if this tablet has an ARM or Intel processor, or if it runs Windows 8.1 or Windows RT. But there’s not exactly a shortage of small, cheap Windows 8.1 tablets from companies such as Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Toshiba. It’ll be interesting to see whether Microsoft can actually manage to produce something that stands out.

When the original Surface line of Windows tablets launched, there weren’t really any other devices quite like them on the market. This time around, Microsoft is kind of late to the game.

via TechCrunch

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13 replies on “Is this the Microsoft Surface Mini?”

  1. If the tablet is resting in landscape, why is the screen shown in portrait? Windows 8 auto-rotates. This looks fake to me.

  2. Um…there’s no story here, this device does not even comply with Microsoft’s bezeled Surface design language. The cover pic is aThinkPad 8 with an IVSO Smart cover case.
    See the port and magnet placement?

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J5I55XK

    Also, the other pics are also from the Ivso Amazon store for the ThinkPad 8 – this one is the Bluetooth portfolio case.

    http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IOQCXMK

    Hell, just look that the Ivso I got for the M28. There’s a definite family resemblance there.

  3. It will be hard to differentiate Lenovo Mixx or Lenovo Thinkpad 8, among the best in its class!

    1. The Mixx 2 has the audio port on top with a single frontal camera. The Thinkpad 8 has the audio port on the bottom with dual cameras and a Micro HDMI port. The ports placement are different, but if pay attention you can spot them a mile away.

  4. The photos of the case look photoshopped (look at the keyboard). This is probably a hoax, in attempt to get some free marketing for some of their other products. “Oh, a $33 keyboard case! I wonder if they make one for XYZ tablet”.

    1. My opinion as someone who worked as a graphic artist, only the screen may be photoshopped…at the very least it’s not an actual working tablet in the photo but that doesn’t mean it’s a hoax…

      Companies usually release non-working samples to accessory makers to get started on making the accessories before the product is officially available… as to the price, there are already cheap BT keyboard cases going for this price range… So it remains to be seen if they’re trying to pull a fast one but most hoaxes wouldn’t risk legal action that selling a fake product on someplace like Amazon would cause…

    1. Or at least a trackpoint. I’ve used that one 3rd party onscreen trackpad software to get a mouse pointer but it’s awkward to use especially in a physical keyboard use type scenario.

  5. “It’s not clear if this tablet has a 7 or 8 inch screen”

    In the Product description of the bluetooth case it says the following

    “only fit Microsoft Surface Mini 8-inch tablet”

      1. If it’s real and they are a licensed accessories maker – they are in violation of a product release embargo. If it’s fake, well, they are using the Ivso ThinkPad8 covers as a placeholder, which does not speak well of their integrity as a vendor pulling switch-a-roos like that (they look like an Ivso reseller anyways). Either way, those pics are in no way representative of anything beyond some sketchy act of shameless self-promotion.

Comments are closed.