Apple to Introduce Ipad Mini

With the recent release of Google Nexus 7 tablet and Microsoft Surface tablet, Apple has also pulled its socks up and is preparing to launch a much smaller version of the iPad later this year.

The newest iPad will come with 7 inches to 8 inches diagonal screen, down from the standard 9.7 inch screen of the last three models. However, it would not feature high-definition screen introduced with the recently launched iPad.

According to reliable sources, the company may announce the new device as early as October. It is expected that a tiny and less expensive iPad will certainly undercut the ambitions of Google, Microsoft and Amazon.com Inc.

However, Apple hasn’t commented on the current situation.

Some analysts say that Apple’s intention to produce the latest version of iPad might be an upshot of Google and Microsoft recent launch of tablet, which aimed to grab significant shares of the growing tablet market.

“It would be the competitors’ worst nightmare,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. “The ball is in Apple’s court.”

One analyst said that a smaller iPad launched in time for the holidays would definitely give a tough time to Google and Microsoft and particularly Amazon, whose Kindle Fire has remained a popular and inexpensive tablet and is considered as the best iPad alternative.

Last month, Microsoft came up with its Surface tablet at a charged and highly hyped event organized in Los Angeles. On the other hand, Google also launched an Asus-branded Nexus 7 tablet last week that will run on the latest version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

The late Steve Jobs, however, had spoken skeptically about the small size of the tablets before his death last year in October. He said in 2010 that he is fully satisfied with the current size of iPad, and this size is appropriate to ensure a good user-experience and enable attractive applications.