Many say that iPad mini is a competitor of kindle or others with same size. In my opinion it's not so much competing with them. It's competing with nds, psp, it's for games. iPad for work and media consummation and occasional gaming while iPad mini is for games and occasional media consummation.
iPad Mini's quite a handful
Apple's iPad Mini is not easy to hold in one hand. The Reg's antipodean outpost took advantage of Australia's time zone and popped into a local Apple store to fondle the new slab. We found the mini is everything one would expect of an Apple product: sleek, pretty and simple. But a couple of issues quickly became apparent. …
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Friday 2nd November 2012 06:18 GMT Geoffrey W
A tablet, of any size, in my experience, fares pretty badly with game consoles since it doesn't have all the buttons and controllers. Some games work well with touch screen mode only but many are hopelessly compromised by the lack of controllers and are uncomfortable to play. Or maybe its just me.
And I don't even want to know what "media consummation" is.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 09:04 GMT Anonymous Coward
Obviously he means "media consumption".
Hardcore gamers might prefer joypads with buttons but most casuals are quite happy dancing in front of Kinect cameras, waggling Wii remotes or swiping Angry Birds across a touch screen. There's a reason why the sales of Vita and 3DS are so low- the casual market has moved to their phone/tablet for games. I'm not a huge fan of touch screen controls and prefer a joypad myself, but it's pretty clear where the casuals have all gone.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 09:49 GMT Anonymous Coward
yep, I meant consumption, consummation definitely wrong here (wtf?, too early in the morning to post). converted games don't work, but if the ui paradigm is properly thought, they will work very well. see dungeon hunter 2, NFS, ticket to ride, they're all great - the ipad felt always a bit too big. Regardless if I may be regarded as a hardcore gamer, i still am a lot on the run so I prefer to take my ipad instead of my playstation 2 or wii - it helps if i can put all my luggage in the cabin, or just use one hand for pulling it. Also, most of the hotels don't allow you to connect the playstation to their tv's, if they have a pay tv module installed.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 08:04 GMT WorkingFromHome
People like a new toy
I think the reason the lack of changes to iOS could start to impact Apple is because people like new toys.
Personally I'm of the same view as you on this, I don't want change unless its shows a real improvement, but then I tend to keep my kit (be it phones, laptops, cars) until they stop working properly or the company makes me have a new one.
However a lot of people like to buy the latest stuff, they like to have a new toy, and there's nothing wrong with that. However if they see the last few versions of their current choice is basically the same as the last one, with just a few improvements then they will naturally start to look at what else is there to play with.
Maybe I'm wrong but an awful lot of people I know like to play with something new, even if they eventually decide they don't like it.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 11:02 GMT dougal83
I recently upgraded from my trusty nokia and purchased a Samsung Galaxy S3. Looking at both Apple and Samsung devices side by side as someone new to using a smartphone, it was my opinion that the Android based handset was easier to use. IMO Android 4.0.3 was better than iOS 5 at the time(iOS6 maps fail now too). I can't be the only person who thinking this... Why pay more money for an Apple device that I am TOLD is far better? Admittedly Apple's bully boy tactics with patent rows have soured my opinion of them but iOS needs to improve or people like me won't buy their devices. I want what I've seen is the best option, I'm afraid it just not an Apple device. How about improving their products rather than using their money to keep the competition off the shelves?
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Friday 2nd November 2012 06:57 GMT Anonymous Coward
Well mine is supposed to be delivered on Tuesday, the reason - technical manuals in PDF form. Almost every day at work I've got PDFs open for technical documents and standard eBook readers just don't cut it.
I considered buying a nexus 7 as it's a lot cheaper and even the non cellular one has a GPS chip in it however, I personally don't like android that much and I have a fair amount on IOS apps which will transfer over to the iPad.
I could have even gone for the Kindle Fire, however I prefer the iPad over both not just because of iOS but also because the build quality should be better.
If I don't like it I'm sure I'll get a decent percentage of my money back on eBay, just look at how much original iPads are going for.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 09:04 GMT uhuznaa
When you're not paid for tinkering with such things a pure appliance like the iPad just makes more sense than anything else.
I will never get this kind of "this device, which is well designed and has great software, has no place anywhere because I hate Apple".
(Typed on a Nexus 7 that AGAIN deleted characters several lines above the cursor when trying to edit the last sentence. If Google won't have fixed all these editing bugs in 4.2 I'll just go and buy an iPad after all).
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Friday 2nd November 2012 08:59 GMT Sp0ck
The problem Apple have now is REAL competition in the Tablet space. The Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are both as good if not better then their iPad mini / iPad counterparts. Money is in short supply, people who currently don't own a tablet or smartphone (there are some right?) have a real choice for a quality device at a cheaper price than the iPremium you pay to Apple.
This mini is a half-arsed attampt to cash in on the smaller tablet market place that the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire have been plundering.
Near enough every Apple launch over the past 2 years has been all about Retina this and retina that. And then this comes along. Very poor show indeed.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 10:49 GMT Toothpick
REAL competition
"The problem Apple have now is REAL competition in the Tablet space. The Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 are both as good if not better then their iPad mini / iPad counterparts."
Agreed. But what they don't have is the same competition in Apps.
Our household has an iPad and a Galaxy Tab 2. The variety of tablet apps for the Samsung are, in my opinion, poor in comparison.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 09:15 GMT Anonymous Coward
Big hands?
That "portrait" photo reminds me of the publicity shots for the old Siemens C25 phone:
http://files.coloribus.com/files/adsarchive/part_172/1727755/siemens-packshot-600-18249.jpg
The phone wasn't actually that small - the hand must have belonged to some big Bavarian lass - or a trannie...
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Friday 2nd November 2012 09:32 GMT jai
portrait holding
just saying, why wouldn't you just hold it in portrait the same way that you're holding it in landscape? as you say, it's light enough that it's not an issue.
a mini tablet like this, despite what Samsung would like us to believe, is not the same as a smartphone and doesn't have to be held the same way
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Friday 2nd November 2012 11:12 GMT 404
Re: "Apple's iPad Mini is not easy to hold in one hand"
Austin Powers: Only 2 things scare me, and one is nuclear war.
Basil: What's the other?
Austin Powers: Excuse me?
Basil: What's the other thing that scares you?
Austin Powers: Carnies.
Basil: What?
Austin Powers: Circus folk. Nomads, you know. Smell like cabbage. Small hands.
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Friday 2nd November 2012 13:30 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Apple are thinking of existing users on this one.
"If you consider that iPad 2 and even iPad 1 are a more usable size then"......why did Apple release a smaller size?
"A touch of brilliance by Apple."......Another punter blinded by Apple.
This reality distortion field is stronger than the force (to the weak minded).
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Friday 2nd November 2012 13:53 GMT Dana W
Re: Apple are thinking of existing users on this one.
They released one because there is a market for a smaller tablet despite what the Steve said. I only wish it had been priced better.
Its not that I don't want one. But I'm just out of iDebt from my Macbook Pro, and don't want to go back in till next year when new phone time comes.
I can afford a new Nexus 7 "barely". If Apple wanted my $$$$ so badly , either 32 gigs in the base model or a better price would have made the difference. If I get one for the holidays "I love generous in-laws" I'll be thrilled. But I have given Apple all I can spare. Its just not priced to compete for people on a budget.
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Saturday 3rd November 2012 18:31 GMT Dana W
Just bought a 32 gig Nexus 7.
Its not bad, I'd have preferred an iPad, "Mac User" but my checking account saw it differently.
I'd been waiting for a matured android experience and this seemed like a good place to start.Its not bad, snappy, and with a good loader its useful and fun. "although the speakers are horrid"
I'm glad for the Nexus products, Apple will have to get out of its stagnation to beat Google.The iPad Mini, its two year old stats, and 16 gig flash won't cut it. I'll keep using the Nexus 7 till Apple can sell me a better small tablet. "Or a more competitive price on this one"
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Monday 5th November 2012 09:49 GMT verity33
The Mini has a really nice screen, sharper than that on the iPad 2. I don't think it needed retina. I can touch type on it, though I do have small hands. I found it a bit heavy to hold in one hand, probably for the same reason :-) But I reckon it's going to be in a lot of Christmas stockings this year.
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Wednesday 7th November 2012 12:27 GMT John 62
iOS staying the same
"the essence of the iOS experience has now remained unchanged for several years"
I believe that's why Forstall was removed.
To be fair, I quite like the iOS UI and don't particularly want Android, but when all you have is icons, badges on icons and only Calender.ipa can have live updates to its icon, then there's a severe lack of imagination going on. MS is on to something with live tiles and Apple will have to respond.
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Wednesday 7th November 2012 16:19 GMT GrandpaChris
"iPad Mini is just right" - said daddy bear
Time to retire my iPod Touch - 3 gen. - my eyes are having floater problems. I think it (iTouch) is worth CDN $19. Will give it to Sally Ann Store. Facetime and LTE are my motivators - comments?http://www.theregister.co.uk/Design/graphics/icons/comment/angel_32.png