Surface Pro 3 hits the shops as Surface Mini flops

Microsoft has officially released the Surface Pro 3 to customers in the US and Canada, inadvertently ramping up speculation of the whereabouts of the now infamous Surface Mini in the process.

Now available across the US and Canada, Redmond's flagship tablet-laptop hybrid is sure to be a success, but whatever happened to the tablet that got away?

Widely expected to reveal the Surface Mini to the world at a media event in New York last month, Microsoft's last-minute decision to pull the plug on the device launch has caused much confusion across the world.

And for those who got their hands on the Surface Pro 3 this week, they will have discovered several references to the Surface Mini in the product's manual guide.

"There are Surface Mini references all over the Surface Pro 3 User Guide," tweeted Paul Thurrott, a renowned Windows blogger. "Hilarious."

Unintentionally confirming the existence of the device, the Surface Pro 3 user guide states: "You'll pair your new pen with Surface Mini a little later during setup.

In what can only be described as a copy and paste error by the Redmond production team, another section states; "If you want to do more than take a quick handwritten note, unlock Surface Mini. When you do, you'll get the full functionality of OneNote."

Many industry figures however claim that the tech giant still plan to release the product, with IHS Technology researcher Rhoda Alexander speculating on an official launch later this year.

But until then at least the public now knows that the Surface Mini, in whatever form, definitely exists…