Microsoft, you killed the wrong product.
That’s the conclusion I've come to after spending a bit of time with Microsoft’s unannounced, but written off, device that it pulled from the Surface keynote at the last minute earlier this year; the Surface 2 is no longer fit for this planet. In an opportunity that was too good to pass up, I got the chance to play with a Surface mini under one condition: I was told that I could not post any photos of the device, for now.
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As the rumors stated, and they were right, under the 8in display is a Qualcomm processor, 1 GB of RAM, Windows RT 8.1, USB support, and a microSD card slot as well. And as we stated many months ago, the device was going to come with the same pen that ships with the Surface Pro 3.
As far as its physical appearance goes, it looks much like a Surface Pro 3 but in a smaller form factor.
This all sounds familiar but what makes the mini unique - besides the pen and OneNote integration - is the case that goes on the device. Microsoft designed a fantastic case that goes on the outside of the device that brings a couple of defining features to the mini tablet.
The Surface mini was real and I got to play with one - Neowin