Rumors have been circulating for months that Apple Inc, is reveal a smaller and cheaper iPad or ‘iPad Mini’, to compete with the tablets and devices running Android in the lower segment.
After reports of The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg that Apple is working on budget version of its iconic iPad, now Macotakara.jp, a Japanese blog revealed that some convincing details of Apple’s new forthcoming game changer.
Macotakara reported that, the iPad Mini will be thinner like the iPod Touch 3G, which is 7.2mm to be exact. The original iPad is 9.4mm. So that is kind of a nice decrease in thickness. This will also make the new iPad thinner that Amazon’s Kindle Fire. An unknown source who allegedly saw the new prototype also reported that the small iPad height is almost same as Google’s Nexus 7 but is only slightly wider.
It is said that to keep costs low, the new smaller iPad will not have the high resolution Retina display like the original iPads, but will have a 1024×768 resolution display similar to the first generation iPad. Macotakara noted that the iPad Mini will also include 3G technology. To say the least, the overall design is based on the iPod touch 3G. The price of the iPad Mini is rumored to be around $250-$350.
With reports saying that the iPad Mini will be available before Christmas, production is expected to begin at Foxconn’s in Brazil by September 2012.
