Apple releases new iPad Mini

The iPad Mini is finally been announced by Apple allowing us to reveal the specs for the 7.9 inch device. The device is starting at $329 and will be shipping to customers on November 2. The iPad Mini currently costs $30 more than what the iPod Touches start at, which could bring iPod Touch sales down slightly, but probably not much.

“iPad mini is every inch an iPad. With its gorgeous 7.9-inch display, iPad mini features the same number of pixels as the original iPad and iPad 2, so you can run more than 275,000 apps designed specifically for iPad,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “iPad mini is as thin as a pencil and as light as a pad of paper, yet packs a fast A5 chip, FaceTime HD and 5 megapixel iSight cameras and ultrafast wireless―all while delivering up to 10 hours of battery life.”

The iPad Mini is a smaller version of the full 10 inch-full sized iPad. It is designed to compete with smaller devices, such as the Google Nexus 7 tablet and other small screened devices.

The device will go on sale in the US on Friday, starting at $329 and then will ship to customers on November 2nd.

The iPad Mini is boasting a 35 percent larger screen than other 7 inch devices, 23% lighter than the full-sized iPad and 53% lighter than the full sized iPad.

The design of the iPad Mini does seem to match that of the new iPod Touches, with the same sort of design but bigger.

The iPad Mini comes in two colours, black and white (much like the iPhone 5). It will also come with the brand new Lightning connector (first seen on the iPhone 5) which is what has helped make it much slimmer than previous models. This does mean though that those appliances made for the older iPads will have to buy converters.

Images of the iPad Mini and Geeks Hut’s first thoughts on the tablet will come in a few hours’ time. We will also have more information on the iPad Mini and other products announced at the Apple Press Event.