Microsoft Working on 7-Inch Gaming Tablet Called Xbox Surface

Although Microsoft has strongly denied rumors that it may be working on a 7-inch version of the Surface, it appears that the Redmondians are actually preparing something truly special.

The Verge reports that Microsoft’s third member of the Surface family is going to be a 7-inch tablet specifically optimized for gaming purposes.

Called Xbox Surface, the smaller Surface will feature an ARM processor (so it won’t run legacy Windows apps) and much more RAM to better handle resource hogs.

Development is already underway in Microsoft’s offices in Silicon Valley, and although Microsoft remains tight-lipped on the subject, the device is very likely to be released in 2013.

Just like the current Surface RT, the new gaming tablet would also support Modern Apps such as messaging and weather, but the entire hardware configuration would be tailored for gaming.