The iPad is barely one week old and already rumours are swirling about a next-gen Apple touchscreen tablet with a 5-7 inch display.
If you think that Apple’s iPad is just a supersized iPod Touch, how would you describe a pint-sized version of the tablet which would sit directly between these two products..?
According to Taiwanese tech trade publication
DigiTimes, Apple already has its eye on a smaller edition of the iPad.
The downsized device would sport a screen between five inches and seven inches, positioning it almost exactly halfway between the 3.5 inch screen of the iPod Touch and the 9.7 inch display of the iPad.
This ‘iPad Mini’ would have the same core features as its large-screen sibling but according to DigiTimes, “will target the highly-portable mobile device market and consumers that focus mainly on reading and do not have a high demand for text input.”
The smaller display and the subsequent need for only a single cell battery, unlike the iPad’s double cell battery, would aid in reducing the retail price of the iPad Mini to under US$400, or at least US$100 less than the iPad’s sticker.
The leadup to the announcement of the iPad in January this year saw reports of devices with screen sizes from 6-7 inches up to 10 inches, with several pundits suggesting that Apple was assessing which form factor the then-unannounced device should adopt.
Some tipped that Apple might introduce several models of the slate with different screen sizes – an approach taken by Amazon, Samsung and Sony with their respective ebook readers.
While Apple of course launched the iPad with a 9.7 inch screen, there’s no reason to rule out a mid-sized iPad for reading, browsing, watching videos and basic input such as Web site logins and social networking updates.