There have been some rumors regarding Microsoft’s upcoming Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, and it has also been said that Microsoft will release them with a new Power Cover; however, new information suggests that Microsoft might also be planning to add to its Surface range with a Surface Mini tablet which could be announced along with the other two tablets. It has been rumored that a 7” or 8” Surface tablet is under development, as one of the first announced features of Windows 8.1 was added support for smaller tablets. It wasn’t clear if Microsoft would be designing the smaller tablet itself; however, as the company is now taking to manufacturing the majority of Windows platform hardware after its acquisition of Nokia, it seems likely that the mini tablet could be released alongside the rest of the Surface 2 line up.
Unfortunately, no other information about the Surface Mini is currently available. It’s not known if it will be released with a similar kickstand as the larger tablets and even the exact size of its display is unknown at the moment. The tablet might not get the Type or Touch covers as its bigger siblings. It is expected that more information about the Surface Mini will be available after Apple releases its new iPhones on the 10th of September.
In other news, Android is the dominant force in the worldwide smart phone market with almost 80% of the market share. However, the situation in the US seems to be a bit different, as Apple is still the biggest manufacturer in the country. New data from ComScore even suggests that Apple could be gaining market share in the US. According to the numbers released by ComScore, Apple enjoyed a 39.2% share of the US smart phone market in the quarter which ended in April this year; the number grew to 40.4% by the end of July 2013. This means Apple still maintains a comfortable lead in the market, even as Samsung registered better growth in the month of April. Both Motorola and HTC lost market share, as LG stayed at more or less the same spot.
Although Apple leads the market, iOS is not the top platform in the market, as that crown still rests with Android. The most downloaded apps were still from Google and Facebook, reaching 86.3% and 92.6% smart phone users respectively.
