New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is pictured in this handout photo
New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (R) is pictured with Bill Gates in this undated handout photo obtained by Reuters on March 25, 2014. Nadella, the Indian-born self-described cricket fanatic who took over as Microsoft Corp's chief executive in February 2014, makes his public debut March 27, 2014 and is expected to go on the offensive right away with some bold strokes. REUTERS/Microsoft

Microsoft could be unveiling a compact version of their Surface tablet on an event scheduled for May 20th in New York. The company has not shared any details about the event as such but the event-invite says it is a small gathering for a 'Surface event'.

According to ZDNet, a case maker on Amazon.com indicated that the Surface Mini might be available (or will be announced) around May 18. The reported leaks about the Surface Mini showed that the tablet is actually an ARM-based device running Windows RT.

Going by the history, the Surface tablet with 10.6 inches display has been around for a few years now, but the latest model from Microsoft-- the Surface 2 --comes with a full HD display and runs on Windows RT software. The same tablet is powered by NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor which houses 2GB of RAM.

The other version, the Surface Pro 2 with a Core i5 Haswell CPU, houses up to 8GB of RAM, and runs on Windows 8.1, according to Liliputing.

It is worth noting that these tablets which sell like hot cakes are in fact smaller to medium-sized tablets with 7 or 8 inches of screen size. The Samsung Galaxy Tab models, the iPad Mini, Google Nexus 7, Amazon Kindle Fire, and even Windows tablet Dell Venue 8 Pro are ruling the tablet market.

On that note, it is only natural for Microsoft to try smaller tablets since their bigger counterparts are not living up to market expectations. Interestingly, even though Microsoft was not making profit with the sales of their original Surface tablets; it helped in the arrival of many third-party Windows tablets, by which Microsoft is still gaining licensing revenue.

As the size of tablets get smaller and cheaper but packed with incredible and high performing features; Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba are all part of this game for some time now and have made a thumping presence not just in the developed markets but also in the price-conscious emerging markets.

Even though Microsoft is late in the game, CEO Satya Nadella's involvement in the company management is starting to make sense. Notably, Microsoft is offering their Window operating system free of charge for small tablets and phones.

We will get more information on the specifications and other details very soon on the upcoming Surface Mini tablet from Microsoft.