Apple to offer smaller, cheaper iPad this fall: report

5 hrs.

Rosa Golijan

We've heard that Apple might be testing out a smaller version of?the iPad plenty of times in the past, but now there are multiple reports which sound quite certain of the Cupertino-based company's plans. After all, it must?intend to compete directly with the Nexus 7, a low-cost tablet recently announced by Google.

There are two independent reports???one from the Wall Street Journal and one from Bloomberg???both of which rely on anonymous sources "familiar with the situation" or with "knowledge of the plans," and claim that we'll see this mini-iPad soon.

According to the Wall Street Journal's report,?component makers in Asia are "preparing for mass production in September of a tablet computer with a smaller screen than the iPad."?This mystery tablet's screen will "likely be smaller than eight inches," the report explains. (The iPad has measured in at 9.7-inches since the first generation, for reference.)

Bloomberg's sources also suggest a smaller screen ? they describe it as being "7 inches to 8 inches diagonally"?? and add that it will not be a high-resolution "Retina" display like the one seen on the third-generation iPad. (Hello, cost-saving measures!)

Every?time there's talk of a smaller iPad, I tend to point out a spiel given by the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs back in 2010.?During an earnings call in October of that year, Jobs stated?that he didn't think that it's possible to make a great 7-inch tablet. A 9.7-inch device such as the current iPad is "the minimum size required to create great tablet apps," he said.

Of course, plenty of time has passed since Jobs' rejection of a smaller iPad. The mobile device market has?changed since then and Apple might be?looking to compete more directly with smaller, cheaper tablets such as the Nexus 7 (or Kindle Fire, for that matter).

I've reached out to Apple for comment on the whole matter, but as I suspect the company will keep its lips sealed?? as it tends to do when it comes to unannounced products?? I consulted my Magic Q-Ball for its thoughts on whether a mini-iPad is coming soon. It said "maybe."?

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/apple-offer-smaller-cheaper-ipad-fall-report-862562

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