newjerseynewsroom.com

BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Reports are saying that Apple wants to leave no room for competition with their latest idea.

According to iMore, Apple will be releasing a 7-inch mini iPad in October 2012 for a $200 to $250 price. Sources say the screen dimensions may be 7 or 7.85 inches, and the mini iPad will be a scaled down version of the current 9.7-inch iPad.

Reports are indicating the mini will feature a 2048x1536 resolution display, which would put the pixel density at about 326 ppi, higher than the 264 ppi new iPad retina display. CNET reports that LG and Au Optronics will supply the mini's LCD panel, and the company may be ordering 6 million units.

Apple justifies keeping costs lower with the panel features by providing cutting the storage space to 8GB.

According to Mobile & Apps, Amazon is expected to unveil the Kindle Fire 2 by about July, which will have an 8.9-inch screen and function as a monochrome e-reader with front lighting.

Meanwhile, Google is rumored to be releasing a 7-inch Nexus tablet with Samsung and it is rumored to have Android 5.0 Jelly Bean, along with a dual-core processor from Cortex A15 technology. The price is rumored to be around $150.

Tech Source reports say the new mini iPad may launch at the same time as the next generation iPhone, expected by around October.

But Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes said an iPad mini is likely to wind up “in the iPod touch category if it sees daylight.” ZD Net does not expect a mini iPad to release this year, saying smaller tablets are not for everyone because the user interface elements are too small and content isn’t optimized for a mid-sized screen.