iPad Mini coming after Google announces $199 Nexus 7 tablet?
Apple’s iPad could be shrinking in size, especially after Google announced a new 7-inch tablet this week.
At its Google I/O Conference Wednesday the search engine company unveiled many new products, but the one of interest to Apple users is its new Nexus 7 tablet. The tablet is a 7-inch IPS display that offers a 1280×800 pixel resolution. An 8 GB version will sell for $199 and a 16 GB version will sell for $249. It will feature a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera.
Competition-wise, the new Google tablet should out-compete the Kindle Fire, but what about the iPad?
Well if past rumors lineup, that question would be reversed. Apple has been heavily rumored to release a 7-inch version of its iPad — an iPad Mini — to directly compete against the Kindle, and now the Nexus 7. And if Apple does it right, the smaller tablet could transform into a category of its own.
In other words, Apple could have a more specific purpose for a smaller iPad instead of just satisfying the market with more choices. Apple is also rumored to be improving its Apple TV mini-box that hooks into your television set. An iPad Mini could be the perfect living room companion to that device.
At the 10th annual All Things Digital Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook was point-blank asked: Are you going to release a smaller, 7-inch version of the iPad. Of course, Cook didn’t answer the question, but he did say Apple has no religion on making just one product.
“Whatever we can do fantastic products and they have different price points, we’ll do that,” Cook said.
An iPad Mini is rumored to be aggressively priced between $200 and $250 — the same as the Nexus 7.
The Nexus 7 will operate on a quad-core Tegra 3 processor and incorporate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity.
Will the Nexus 7 outcompete Apple’s current iPad? Absolutely not — and they recognize that. Google is going after the Kindle. But will an iPad Mini outcompete Google? The chances are strong.
