back to article Lightning strikes fresh iPad Mini shots

iPhone 5? Old news. It's all eyes on the as-yet-unannounced iPad Mini now. And the rumour mill continues to churn stuff out for them. The latest: a trio of smartphone-shot snaps of the alleged compact slab. Blurry and pale, the three pics posted by Chinese-language site Bolopad are, the site claims, "real machine spy shots", …

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  1. Big_Ted

    ummmm

    Yes, it's a small iPad with a display of the same aspect ratio as the current model - witness the identical 4 x 4 grid of app icons.

    looks more like 4 x 5 icons to me.

    If this was real I would expect it to be released around October not now as many thought purely as it would be less likely to be in competition with the ifoam 5....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: ummmm

      Bummer if this is released and you've just bought a note.

      1. Steve Evans

        Re: ummmm

        Have Apple copied Samsung's 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity then?

        Didn't think so.

        And for anyone who says "Bummer if you've just bought a Nexus 7"... My reply will be "Is the ipad mini available for under £200?".

        Just because you've bought a tablet device that isn't an ipad, it doesn't mean you really wanted an ipad.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Yawn

          This crap never materialised when it was prophesied, but undetered the rumour mill races on.

          Boring rumours and fake pictures have been circulating for years, three ipads later and there's still no mini version.

          What happens when it doesn't appear in October, it rolls on again until next spring??

          Give me strength.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Yawn

            Yet still you were interested enough to post about your terribly original ennui? Give me strength.

  2. Gashead

    It would be handy if they could launch a new iPad in the next three weeks. The Regent Street fanbois could buy their new phones, walk outside then join the back of the queue to form a new queue.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Nobody would Q for Samcrap stuff.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        They wouldn't have to

        Samsung don't artificially keep supplies low and they managed to fill their record breaking pre-orders even though they weren't expecting quite that many. Also unlike Apple, they are available from a wide range of shops not just their own and a handful of others that they grudgingly allow to have a little bit of stock.

      2. chipxtreme
        WTF?

        Noone would queue for Samsung stuff because their not sad pathetic losers. I pre-ordered my SGS III and received it on day of release with zero fuss, as did quite a few of my friends. People that queue for the latest shiny shiny are stupid.

  3. tommy060289
    FAIL

    that looks nothing like an iPad to me....

    maybe its just the photo but the apple looks like some sort of gel stick on stuck in a recess rather than the normal painted on (I think). I could be wrong, and apple could have changed the design, but im going to call a hard case of bullshit:)

    1. uhuznaa

      Re: that looks nothing like an iPad to me....

      The Apple logo isn't painted on, it's plastic in a hole in the alu case, serving as a RF-window for the WiFi antenna behind it.

      Looks perfectly legit to me.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I don't care so much I felt compeled to comment so

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Timing

    Retail strategies are in place for XMAS already. Stores need to stock inventory, allocate space / have merchandising in place. Sure, Apple could sell new devices via their web site & stores, however, that'd not keep their retailers happy.

    If the iPAD range is revised in time for XMAS then it'll be the best kept secret ever. I'm betting on this being gossip.

    1. Andy 115

      Or the worst kept secret ever......

      .....considering it has been pretty much confirmed for an late september / early october introduction for the past 3 months

  6. Dana W
    Meh

    I hope they hurry up.

    I want to know if its coming or not. I'd like to know if I should get a Nexus 7 or not and it hangs on how much this is going to cost. "And if it actually exists"

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I hope they hurry up.

      Buy the Nexus 7...

      1. Dana W

        Re: I hope they hurry up.

        I own three Macs. My partner owns three Macs. Its very tempting to stay in the ecosystem, but I don't want a tablet that won't go in a purse. I'd like a 7 inch iPad. But if Apple can't meet my needs I have NO problem at all playing with Android.

        It will probably be a Nexus 7. I don't see Apple being anywhere near them in price. The "iPad Mini" would have to be cheaper than an iPod touch to be comparatively affordable and that just seems unlikely. Then again I said the iPad would never take off.

        And on the plus side, with a 7 will be the chance to play with "unapproved" software again.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I hope they hurry up.

        Yeah if you like cheap busted hardware and malware.

  7. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    Gawd almighty...

    Some people spend hundreds of dollars a month on bottled water, and/or on coffee latte el grande-blah-blah. One shouldn't have to publically agonizing over a simple $200-$300 tablet purchase.

    The RIM Playbook is down to as low as Cdn$99 for the 16GB version (if you can find one), or $118 for the 32GB. At that price one might buy it just for laughs. If I could find them in stock, I'd buy them as 'stocking stuffers' for everyone in the family. Already bought several at the $200 price point. They're getting well used.

    Since they didn't have any PlayBooks left, I asked if they had the Google Nexus 7. Yes? Gimme one. It's quite nice and well worth the Cdn$260. Highly recommended. It's nice to finally join the Church of Android - LOL. The Google Play store is an 'amateur hour' production; they're incapable of accepting Amex cards for cross border currencies, even for free books (like the fricken e-manual). Daft. Completely daft.

    I'd like a 7-inch iPad for $250 too, please and thank you. Posted from my obsolete iPhone 4S.

    Am I missing any major ecosystems?

    1. Dana W
      WTF?

      Re: Gawd almighty...

      A LOT of us these days are on a limited income. If you know people who are spending hundreds a month on bottled water they are NOT the norm, and they certainly don't represent the great majority of buyers. It takes me a YEAR to pay off a New MBP.

      I get coffee twice a week at best. and yes, $300 is actual money to me. I'm not the only one. I"m glad you can afford casual $300 purchases.

    2. vic 4
      Happy

      Re: The Google Play store is an 'amateur hour'

      Try a different store, probably the amazon store is better for you. You've got a choice, use it.

    3. Mark .

      Re: Gawd almighty...

      It's also worth noting the Ainol Novo Android 4 tablets - e.g., the Novo 7 Flame has just as good specs as a Nexus 7, for less money (~£115) *and* that's for the 16GB model, with microSD as well. There's even a good range of tablets they have for under £100, that whilst not quite as good spec, are still good enough for many people. The only downside seems to be the unfortunate name of the company!

      It's astonishing the way that there's so little awareness of these, mainly only on Android-specific forums, but the reviews so far seem to be good, and I'm tempted to get one. It's sad the way that media coverage influences the market so much - it's not that the Ipad is any better, but it got vast amounts of media coverage even before it was announced, let alone released. Most people aren't even aware of alternatives. The only Android tablets to get some coverage have been Amazon and now the Nexus 7. You can also buy Ipads in about every shop - Android tablets are harder to get hold of, and these Ainol tablets seem to basically involve ordering from China... (Though there are a few UK distributors selling via Amazon.)

      (Aren't journalists supposed to, you know, do some journalism? It would be nice if tech journalists could research what's available and do some actual reporting, instead of hyping the next possible release from Apple...)

      1. vic 4

        Re: Gawd almighty...

        I compleetly agree with mark, The ainol tablets are pretty good, I've had almost 250 ainol tablets in the past few months not one dud one, mostly the elf II (which you can pick up for £75 retail) which is pretty good but the flame is fantastic gave one to my 3 year old who loves it.. Plus these tablets are so easy to update, drop the file on an sd card, plug it in, reboot and select teh file from the boot menu, job done! The only advantage apple would have is their retina screen but at a cost, and to be honest that advantage is soon disappearing.

        Going to vote me down? Ask yourself a question have you used one? I've got a few of every apple iOS product with varying os versions as well as a whole raft of android devices.

  8. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    Financial advice...

    Start smoking a pack a day. After a few months, quit cold turkey. Now you'll suddenly have about $150 to $200 free cash available each month to blow on gadgets. Point being, everyone makes their own decisions on where to spend their money. If the poorest of the lower class can afford to smoke a pack of cigarettes a day, then anyone else can easily afford to buy a cheap tablet a couple times a year. Or a new MacBook Pro once a year.

    I take issue with *cheap* gadgets (such as contract-free [wifi] $200 price class tablets) being treated as expensive luxuries or status symbols. It's fricken ridiculous.

    The good news is that the price trajectory will shortly intersect with anyone's constrained definition of "petty cash".

    1. Martin 47

      Re: Financial advice...

      Well fancy that, Mitt Romney posts on el reg

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Financial advice...

        He has a point. $200 isn't as much as it used to be and yes a lot of people do have more money than they think but it's pissed away on fags, booze and stupid football shirts.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Financial advice...

          Jesus. If you've never lived on a low income then just shut the fuck up about it. You just make yourselves look ignorant and bigoted as you obviously have no idea what you're talking about.

          1. uhuznaa

            Re: Financial advice...

            And hating something you can't afford to buy makes you look like what exactly?

            Low income is one thing, fighting about a few hundred bucks for something you'll use at least two years is another. If you can (and want to) afford that this doesn't make you ignorant.

    2. Dana W
      FAIL

      Re: Financial advice...

      That is really stupid. Its like saying if you want to make a piece of rope longer, cut a piece off one end and and tie it on the other end.

      Poor people who can buy a new MBP once a YEAR? What planet do you live on?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @ JeffyPooh

      You sound like an idiot. If you can afford a packet of fags a day (what's that, a fiver?) then you're not on a low income. If you're living on 80 quid a week and that's feeding everyone and paying the bills where does the 35 quid for fags come from? You stupid arrogant rich boy. Do you work in government?

      As stated before, if you haven't actually lived on a low income then shut the fuck up about it, you know nothing about it.

  9. robin thakur 1
    Happy

    Android tablet

    Right, the Nexus 7 is going back to the store if there's a more affordable iPad coming with a decent array of apps. There is too much missing on the nexus and it can't use tablet apps. Hopefully Apple don't ship a device with a camera but no camera software installed either!

    1. Mark .

      Re: Android tablet

      What's a "tablet app"? The Nexus is a standard Google device, running standard Android, so it runs all the Android apps. And standard Android also has camera software with it.

      1. Jordan Davenport

        Re: Android tablet

        The ONLY thing I will grant him is that the Nexus 7 does indeed not come with camera software installed by default, but there's a good reason for that - its only camera is front-facing, and it lacks a flash. It quite simply is not meant to be used for taking pictures of things, since you'd have to point its face at the subject. It's more intended to be a media consumption device, as are most tablets in general. The camera is there primarily for video calls such as on Skype.

        The Nexus 7 also comes equipped with technology that even the iPhone 5 surprisingly lacks - NFC capability. Android Beam, while not perfect and right now mostly just a bit of a gimmick, is pretty nifty in general. Samsung's S Beam, for instance, adds features to it that make it more than just a toy. That obviously doesn't work with the Nexus 7, but it shows just one implementation of a potentially very useful technology that will evolve over time. Right now, it's mostly useful if you want to use Google Wallet, I suppose, but that's surely to change, especially with the imminent release of the Wii U, whose games in the future will eventually support NFC.

        With the Tegra 3 chip in it, I'm certainly happy with the purchase, and so is my mother, for whom I bought the device in the first place.

  10. 7-zark-7
    Paris Hilton

    Its all about perspective

    It's an iPhone 5. The hand in the first shot is just very, very small.

    Paris: She's crying as she has just watched the "these are small, those are far away" episode of Father Ted and is struggling to understand the concept.

  11. smithmichaelw

    How times change

    Here’s the excerpt of Mr. Jobs’ speech from October 2010, followed by audio:

    I’d like to comment on the avalanche of tablets poised to enter the market in the coming months.

    First, it appears to be just a handful of credible entries. Not exactly an avalanche. Second, almost all of them use seven-inch screens, as compared to the iPad’s near 10-inch screen.

    Let’s start there. One naturally thinks that a seven-inch screen would offer 70% of the benefits of a 10-inch screen. Unfortunately this is far from the truth. Screen measurements are diagonal. So that a seven-inch screen is only 45% as large as iPad’s 10-inch screen. You heard me right: Just 45% as large.

    If you take an iPad and hold it up in portrait view, and draw a horizontal line halfway down the screen, the screens on seven-inch tablets are a bit smaller than the bottom half of the iPad display. This size isn’t efficient to create great tablet apps in our opinion.

    While one could increase the resolution to make up some of the difference, it is meaningless unless your tablet also includes sandpaper, so that the user can sand down their fingers to around one-quarter of their present size. Apple has done expensive user testing on touch interfaces over many years, and we really understand this stuff.

    There are clear limits of how close you can place physical elements on a touch screen, before users cannot reliably tap, flick or pinch them. This is one of the key reasons we think the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps.

    Third, every tablet user is also a smartphone user. No tablet can compete with the mobility of a smartphone–its ease of fitting into a pocket or purse, its unobtusiveness when used in a crowd. Given that tablet users will already have a smartphone in their pockets, giving up precious display area to fit a tablet in their pocket is clearly the wrong tradeoff.

    The seven-inch tablets are tweeners. Too big to compete with a smartphone; too small to compete with a iPad.

    - Interview Audio in the link

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFAjfUT8wZI&feature=player_embedded

    So will it come with sandpaper?

    1. uhuznaa

      Re: How times change

      But then the rumored iPad Mini isn't 7". It's 8" and has about 40% more screen surface than a 7" tablet. With the same resolution as the larger iPad, it also will have exactly the same pixel density and absolute UI element sizes as the original iPhone. If you can use an iPhone you'll be able to use that thing too.

      Besides, markets change and SJ never had any problem to change his views accordingly. OK, he can't do this anymore now...

      1. Mark .

        Re: How times change

        So 7" is no use at all, but 8" is great? (And also great is 10", and apparently 3.5" and 4", but not 4.8" or 5.5"...) At which point is the magic division? What about say a 7.5" tablet? And there are 8" Android tablets, btw.

        It can't have both the same resolution and density, if the size is different. Which is it? Same density doesn't help with UI scaling at all. The same resolution might, though it's a poor restrictive way of solving the problem (and different iphones/ipads already have had different resolutions).

        Android tablets run the same UI as Android phones, so if you can use an Android phone (and there are far more people doing so than iphones), you can use an Android tablet.

        Yes, there's nothing wrong with a person just wrong - but it is worth criticising when ppl hail a person and a company as being right in everything they do, and when other products are accused of either being wrong, or copying.

    2. Mark .

      Re: How times change

      Indeed. And I love how the arguments aren't even applied consistently. I mean, an Iphone has only just over half the screen space of a Galaxy S3. Even the latest 4SS only has less than 70%. Even more a difference if we took the Note. Of course, he'd probably claim that it was somehow different for different devices, but the point still stands. I mean, I would say that 7-8" devices are a different category to 10" devices due to their added portability - 10" devices are in the same category as netbooks and ultra-portable laptops. There's a continual tradeoff between portability and screen size.

      I mean, I might as well mock Ipad users, as they have less than 35% screen space that my 17" Clevo has...

  12. ukgnome

    Does anyone actually believe it's real? If I was a media shrewd company named after a fruit (edible and not the larry grayson kind) i think I would keep perpetuating these myths.

  13. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    Why are the homeless poor surfing RegHardware?

    Why are the homeless starving poor surfing an El Reg Hardware story about the next Apple iPad? And how are they surfing the web? Using two twigs and some damp moss to post comments on El Reg?

    1. Dana W
      Meh

      Re: Why are the homeless poor surfing RegHardware?

      Where are the homeless poor posting? I must have missed that.

    2. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: Why are the homeless poor surfing RegHardware?

      How dare these peasants be interested in my premium apple products! Can't we have some kind of pay as you comment structure on here to keep the riff raff out? It's getting jolly crusty in here, what what!

      1. Dana W
        Meh

        Re: Why are the homeless poor surfing RegHardware?

        He is an idiot. He was referring to me and the fact that I have a restricted income and a Macbook Pro. How he gets "homeless poor" from this I have no idea.

        A baseline Macbook Pro is about two months income for me. But somehow he implied from my statement that I bought a new one every year. Buying one every three years is privation enough thank you very much.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Less is more

    Come on El Reg, less rumour & more factual news please.

    TIA

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