[tab name=’News’]
As the old saying goes, “there’s no smoke without fire”, and in the case of the iPad Mini, the smoke is getting too thick for there to be no fire.
Rumours of a smaller, cheaper iPad have been circling ever since Apple launched its third generation iPad, and now the rumours are appearing on an almost-daily basis. The Cupertino Company tends to leak a very small piece of information on upcoming products to its favoured news outlets, which has proven to be a great way to fuel the rumour fire in past years.
Bloomberg recently reported about the rumoured tablet, and that’s apparently because Apple leaked the information to it first, along with the Wall Street Journal, who has also published reports about the miniature iPad. The New York Times has also received word from Apple that a new tablet is coming, and has published a report on the race to launch a successful ‘Mini tablet’. It says,
“The company is developing a new tablet with a 7.85-inch screen that is likely to sell for significantly less than the latest $499 iPad, with its 9.7-inch display, according to several people with knowledge of the project who declined to be named discussing confidential plans. The product is expected to be announced this year.”
The news was leaked to New York Times on the eve of the launch of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet in the US, which is looking set to make the 7-inch tablet size popular, with its low price point. If Apple does launch a smaller iPad, which we think it will do, it will need to price it competitively to rival the Nexus 7 ($199) and the Amazon Kindle Fire (also $199).
Despite Ex-CEO Steve Jobs’ disdain for a tablet smaller than the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen size, New York Times received word from an Apple engineer who confirmed the company worked on a 7-inch iPad way back in the mid-2000s. Perhaps they’ve finally perfected the ‘iPad Mini’, which is expected to have a 7.85-inch screen and a similar design to the full-size iPad.
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.
Via: New York Times
[/tab]
[end_tabset]