Microsoft working on a 7-inch Xbox Surface tablet focused on gaming

This is really interesting. Hot on the heels of launching its full-sized Surface tablet to a mixed market response, Microsoft is thought to now have their sights set on the smaller form-factor tablet space, currently dominated by seven-inchers from Google and Amazon, in addition to Apple’s iPad mini that launched last month. Microsoft’s secret project for a mini Xbox, it’s been said, involves a custom-built ARM processor and high-bandwidth RAM designed specifically for gaming tasks…

The Verge has the story:

We’re told these specifications could be altered to accommodate an unannounced Intel SoC and that the Xbox Surface is being developed independent of specific hardware architecture.

Microsoft’s Xbox Surface won’t run a full version of Windows, rather this 7-inch tablet will run a custom Windows kernel. Messaging and other tablet functions may be supported, but the focus is on gaming.

The publication says that initial hardware planning for an Xbox Surface is underway, with initial parts of it being developed at Microsoft’s offices in Silicon Valley.

 

The Xbox Surface will likely be manufactured in the same factory like the Surface tablet, the story has it.

Also this:

The software giant recently locked down several Xbox-related buildings, limiting employee access to the company’s Interactive Entertainment Business division.

The lock down is likely related to Microsoft’s increased testing of the tablet, providing a way for other parts of the Xbox team to build games and software for the device.

A seven-inch portable Xbox console certainly sounds plausible and the very thought of it is pretty intriguing, especially given Microsoft’s credibility in the gaming space and games being the most lucrative app category across mobile platforms.

Does an Xbox Surface tablet heavily focused on gaming sound like something you’d consider?

Pictured above: Microsoft’s Glasses technology, with a tablet acting as a secondary display for the desktop.