Report: Apple To Debut Smaller Ipad

[Lite Beer]

Report: Apple to debut smaller iPad

San Francisco - Apple is to debut a smaller iPad this year to help fend off challenges from chief rivals Microsoft and Google, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Citing people with knowledge of the plans, the report said that the screen of the new iPad would be between 7 and 8 inches (17.8 to 20.3 centimetres), putting the device in direct competition with the Nexus 7 tablet computer announced by Google last week.

The iPad currently only comes with a 9.7-inch (24.6-centimetre) screen, and the cheapest version costs 200 dollars more than the Nexus 7’s 199-dollar price.

According to the report, the new device would not feature the same high-definition Retina screen as the iPad 3. But thanks to its smaller screen, Apple would be able to sell the mini iPad at near the same price as Google’s tablet and still earn the same profit as itdoes on the larger iPads, the report said.

Microsoft recently announced a competitor to the iPad, a high-powered tablet running on Windows 8 and due out in the third quarter. Prices have not been announced.

Making a smaller iPad would be a major shift for the company, whose founder Steve Jobs repeatedly derided mini-tablets as incapable of offering a good user experience

-- The Nation 2012-07-04

[bobl]

I wonder what Judge Koh will do if Samsung and/or Google apply to have the 7" iPad blocked.

[lomatopo]

Steve Jobs is rotating at high speed. He railed against smaller tablet size and always said 9.7" was perfect. And all those fanboys who made fun of the Note and 7" tablets are now left to dine of crow. Love it.

[Pib]

Got to make various tablet/phone sizes as people come in all sizes and like different sizes....bigger is not always better (at least for tablets/phones).