We're just days away from Apple's latest launch event which will almost certainly see the company debut a smaller version of its all-conquering iPad tablet. Join us here for full coverage
Apple will hold a press conference next Tuesday October 23, during which the company is widely expected to announced the long-rumoured iPad mini device.
Invites to the 'Special Event' landed in the T3 inbox earlier this week with Apple promising, "We've got a little something to show you" and, while the invite stops short of confirming the device, the clue appears to be in the title.
As always, we'll be live-blogging events from at the California Theatre in San Jose as they happen, with kick-off expected at from 6pm UK time.
So with almost an entire year of speculation building towards this event, what can we expect from the iPad mini?
Most observers expect Apple to launch a sleek 7.8-inch device to complement the traditional 9.7-inch model, enabling Cupertino to meet the threat from affordable Android tablets like the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire.
A purported inventory listing which leaked this weekend suggest that the iPad Mini will also be priced competitively. The inventory screenshot showed the the basic 8GB Wi-Fi may only cost 249 Euros, which translates into £200 with today's exchange rate. However it seems likely that Apple would abandon its premium pricing policy to match the likes of Amazon and Google.
More reports have claimed that Apple will keep the costs down by keeping the device Wi-Fi only, while the new Lightning connector, which debuted on the iPhone 5, is likely to replace the 30-pin connector seen on previous iPad models.
The launch of an iPad mini, in itself, would have been considered a surprise just a year ago, given the late Steve Jobs' well-reported stance on tablet size. He once claimed that 7-inch slates were dead-on-arrival, but reportedly began to warm to the idea in 2011.
Anything else?
Beyond the iPad mini it has also been suggested that Apple will tweak the new iPad 3 model (which was announced in March this year) to incorporate the Lightning connector and 4G connectivity for the soon-to-launch Everything Everywhere 4G network.
More speculation has focused on revamped iMacs, a 13-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro and, to continue the diminutive theme of the event, a revamped Mac mini.
Stay tuned to T3.com for all the latest news and gossip leading up to the event and don't forget to join us for the live blog at 6pm on Tuesday.
Source : rss[dot]feedsportal[dot]com