Apple prepping iPad mini - Report

@zequex - agree to disagree. When Flash is gone in coming years - remember who told you so. :P

@damo320 Adobe has already "adjusted it's plans". They are currently working on the HTML5 animation software Adobe Edge. Also Adobe Dreamweaver has several new tools for HTML5 and CSS3. Flash is still way better at software development and animation than HTML5 will be. HTML5 will replace things like simple movie players and animated slideshows in web pages. It can not, and will not, be able to do online games and apps. At least not at the quality that Flash can. Flash has shown to be more reliable, faster, and memory efficient than HTML5. HTML5 is what Flash was about 10 years ago. It may use a plugin but it is certainly not outdated or obsolete.

@zequex If you read the links I included to the articles on Flash they all stated it is the mobile version only - at this stage. What you need to consider realistically is that these days software decisions are increasingly being made in relation to mobile devices. Something which affects the highest growth market (mobiles) has a much bigger flow on impact than anything happening in desktops. Flash is primarily used to publish animation to the.... WEB. So when HTML5 comes along and kicks its butt like it is currently doing how long do you think it will be before Adobe adjusts its plans? Ultimately the writing is on the wall. Adobe will discontinue Flash and replace it with a brand new HTML5 based animation software... it may even retain much of the UI of the old Flash. So yeah - the real story is HTML5 and I'm sure Adobe will make something which takes advantage of this lest they lose significant market share. Flash is dead wood and I predict Adobe will drop it on all platforms within the next few years. I know guys who animate in Flash - but they will transition into the new software (whatever that will be)... it's their job. I've done the same thing with discontinued software myself.

@AdventFFVII nah, that's the iPad Nano :P

The Ipad mini existed for years. It's called the Ipod touch!

Whats next nano ipad where you can only use ure pinky on it

Moooooooooo!

Compared to this piece ofapples**t, PSvita (i still cant get over that stupid name) is priced perfectly cheap compared to what you get.

I kinda doubt this would happen. Then again Apple has changed it stance on product design before.

If the the vita is well over priced what do you call that????

Soon there'll be an iPad nano that is the size of an iPhone, which Apple loyalists will of course line up for hours to buy ;-)

Meh.I love me an orange better than an apple.

The Kindle has to many cons. I'd wait for a Kindle 2 or Kindle 3 before forking over $200 for it. It's just missing way to much stuff. the IPad 2 blows it away. I'm not going to waste my money on an inferior IPad mini. Sure it'll be a cheaper version of the IPad that people want, but it's going to lack a lot of the great features that is in an IPad 2 or IPad 3. If you don't own an IPad at all, just wait for the IPad 3. If you own an IPad 2, wait for the IPad 5. lol!!

iDiot

"We are technologically well informed and we scoff at this new product", say the PC squad members of GameSpot.

@sneakthief81 You have to think about the brand as well. It's hard to imagine that brand matters, but when it comes to sales it really does. The general public relates Apple products to high quality. The iPad is THE most successful tablet on the market and is considered the benchmark for other tablets to beat. Therefore people will be willing to shell out an extra $100 to get an iPod XL (LOL @iiIsSueZ) instead of a Kindle Fire. And while Kindle Fire is Android, it is a heavily modified variant of Android that is limited in what it can do and the software it supports out of the box. So again, you can expect people to pay more for an iPad mini even if it is lacking the same features as a Kindle Fire.

@sneakthief81 You're slightly mistaken.The Kindle Fire has a dual-core processor and a gyroscope. No 3G or HDMI-out, though.

Could have also gone with "iPodXL" rather than "iPad mini" Apple...

I would bet money that the ipad mini will be a smaller scale of the first ipad, WITH NO cameras, the old processor (A4, single core), no gyroscope, no 3G option, and no HDMI video out..these are all the extras of what they put in the IPAD 2..I know the kindle fire has non of these features, BUT if apple wants 50-100 more than what a kindle costs..?

Apple is likely considering the 7" iPad after the phenomenal success of the Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Nook Color, and Samsung Galaxy Tabs. Apple just wants to stay the crowned kind of tablets and tending to a lower-cost, smaller-form-factor community will help them with that. Especially with the launch of Windows 8 creeping near. Tablets are a hot item and kids are craving them. Parents will start buying low-cost tablets instead of going for the low-end iPod Touch. Apple's problem with a 7" tablet is getting the cost low enough to convince those looking at the $200-300 tablet range a "better" option as well as keeping the price at a point that doesn't make the 10" iPad look overpriced. Still... when people are looking at a Kindle Fire vs iPad, the iPad brand-name is going to sell them if the product difference is within $100.

Pathetic to the max... who needs all these options of sizes and models and colors and crap! Is this Apple's way of saying 'our products aren't good enough so that's why we keep releasing a new iPad every year??'

so it's an IPod Touch......but only it looks like AN IPOD TOUCH!!!!!

So basically it's a slightly oversized version of an iPod touch?? :| Really Apple....really?? Here's the kicker though, they actually believe that they're gonna have a Kindle Fire competitor in this thing. Ha...how laughable. So you're gonna make product that's $50-100 MORE and expect regular (aka non-Apple fanatics) consumers to bite? Yeah, good luck with that one....

iPad=Giant iPod Touch iPad mini= ......iPod Touch? uhhhhhhh.....

WASTE!

soooo dumb. iphone/itouch=ipad mini. ipad=extra large ipod touch. ipad mini=unneccesary. but it will sell like hot cakes. gotta love apple..

Why announce another iPad when you're gonna reveal a new iPad anyways? It's stupid, yeah we will reveal our new iPad 3 on March 7 but before that we'll also tell you we're making another iPad which is smaller. That's like if Nintendo plan to release a GBA SP while still selling the original launch GBA the year before but also had plans to prepare a Game Boy Micro on the same year the SP launch. That's all mess-up.

im just happy with my ipad one why cant they let a apple item have a little bit of a shelf life before making another thing that everyone "needs" seriously did they really change that much from ipad one to ipad 2? (made it faster white and added cameras) im really not trying to troll i just don't understand why apple feels the need to release something every year

Bogus. Simple as that.

ipads are too small already.

To compete with Kindle Fire, $300 is too expensive.

iPad mini? So I'm guessing this will come in year installments too.

@sagameister3 What really gets me is there are people out there who think their life needs ALL THREE OF THEM.

When I read the title I just thought, "Isn't that just an ipod touch...?". So it'll be something smaller than a tablet yet bigger than any smartphone...so what's the point really lol?

So basically...its slightly bigger than an Ipod Touch? Sometimes I don't get Apple. Scratch that, I never get Apple

iPad mini... so... they're release the iPhone/iTouch again? I fail to see the differece between these products. The only real difference in any of these products is the size of the screen and the fact that the iPhone has a network provider.

@damo320 Actually it's only the Flash PLAYER on mobile devices they've stopped. That is, being able to view future Flash web content in a phone's browser. It is still being widely used and promoted for app development and distribution on Android and iOS devices using Adobe's AIR technology. http://www.webpronews.com/adobe-flash-player-air-2012-02 They are also working on full 3D rendering for browser based Flash games in the near future. Hate to break it to you but Flash won't die until there is a product that can out perform it and that won't be for a long time. Getting back to the article, isn't an iPad mini..... just an iPod? :/

Screw Apple and their proprietary, overpriced garbage.

Apple, Bose, and Monster Cables. Forever destroying consumer electronics with their overpriced mediocre products. I dream of a world where people realize that they're getting ripped off each time they buy something from manufacturers like them. I doubt that will ever happen though.

@GhostHero333 Flash is dead on mobile devices. Adobe themselves have now stated this (they are officially discontinuing Flash for portable devices) and are replacing flash with a new software based on HTML5 integration which will once again be Apple friendly. http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/09/adobe-confirms-flash-player-is-dead-for-mobile-devices/ http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/flash-is-dead-long-live-html5/1633 No more demands for flash please - it is dead.

If it isn't the iPad 3 I'll be pretty sad. I want to get a iPad, but I don't want to get an old model that is overpriced. But I can afford a new model that is overpriced.

I don't see this working. But it will, just because it has an Apple logo on it.

So...

It's called a BlackBerry PlayBook

more milkage from apple and their crappy products

So, based on the comments below, I should expect my iPad 2 to suddenly stop functioning the day that the iPad 3 releases? I got lucky and the self-destruct chip in my original iPad failed, so I was able to let my wife use it when I got my iPad 2. I didn't even realize that all of the other original iPads had stopped working when the iPad 2 released last year. I hope the self-destruct chip in my iPad 2 fails when the iPad 3 launches. These mandatory upgrades are evil!!! Apple sux!!! Ima buy a Android when my iPad 2 explodes later this month because manufacturers NEVER release new versions of Android tablets.

Hmmm...I suppose that is the next logical step but wouldn't that eat into ipod touch sales? Unless the plan is to replace the ipod touch with the mini ipad

Wow talk about raising the bar for milking.

... This makes me want to burn down an Apple store.

Sheesh... the kindle is supposed to be for reading. Then kindle fire came out to distract literature with more games, now this? the hell? I was going to spend my time reading books when I became old. But now i'm afraid there might not be a book business when I get to that age 50 years from now.