The Surface Mini did not make its expected debut at Microsoft's latest Surface event in NYC, which instead focused on the Surface Pro 3 reveal, but the company has inadvertently acknowledged its existence in another way.
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As pointed out by Paul Thurrott on Twitter, the Surface Pro 3 manual is littered with references to the Surface Mini, a device that has not been mentioned or unveiled publicly by Microsoft. The manual was available here, but has since been removed--presumably due to this accidental reveal.
The manual made reference to the Surface Mini pen input, and the device was very certainly either well-developed or completed. It was set to debut at the Surface event, but reports say Microsoft executives pulled it at the last minute, perhaps even backing away from the project entirely.
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Sources recently indicated to CNET that the product still seemed to be in the works, pointing to continued supplier activity. A high volume of components had been ordered, and analysts find it unlikely that they product would be canceled after such an investment.
The question remains why, then, Microsoft would pull the Mini from the event it was supposed to be highlighted at, but there's no clear answer at this time. Citing to comments from inside sources, Bloomberg suggests that CEO Satya Nadella and VP Stephen Elop came to believe that the device did not differentiate itself enough from the competition, and thus would not be a financial success.
Perhaps they've gone back to the drawing board, but the rumors and manual indicate the Surface Mini was quite far along. It remains to be seen what will become of it, if anything, as we move forward into the year, but keep an eye out for more news.
