Microsoft Surface 3 tablet release date October as production begins

Microsoft Surface 2Microsoft

Microsoft is set to launch the successor of its Surface tablet in October as the production of the device will start soon, according to the Taiwan-based manufacturer Pegatron.

According to DigiTimes, the production of components will commence in August and volume production of the tablet will start in September.

The new Microsoft Surface 3 will sport a 10.6-inch screen display and will have a slimmer and lighter profile and is expected to sweep sales compared to the Microsoft Surface Pro launched in May. Also, the tablet is expected to pack the Surface pen stylus.

For the last two years, Microsoft unveiled the new Surface tablets in October when the first generation of Surface with Windows RT was announced in October 2012. The device comes with Windows RT OS, which is a version of mobile software designed to run in ARM processors. The tablet could only run the apps downloaded from the Windows Store.

Meanwhile, the company is believed to be working on a Surface Mini with Windows RT 8.1. The Microsoft Surface Mini is expected to debut this summer.

Reports claimed that Microsoft initially planned to release the Surface Mini with the Surface Pro 3 but decided against it as it thought that it did not have what it takes to take on other tablets in its category. Thus, reports said that the miniature tablet headed back to production to improve its specs and features.

Meanwhile, Microsoft almost confirmed the existence of the Surface Mini, although indirectly. The company's user guide for the Surface Pro 3 has multiple references to the Surface Mini. Reliable tipster @evleaks claimed that Microsoft will finally unveil the smaller tablet sometime this summer. "Microsoft Surface Mini is back in production, in anticipation of a summer release," @evleaks tweeted.

Aside from that, the tipster did not offer other details regarding the tablet's specs and features as well as the exact launch date of the tablet. Thus, everything is unclear until now. Now that the miniature tablet is ready for mass production, the Surface Mini will come with some impressive specs and features on board.