Hasta La Gadget!

The iPad mini is quickly becoming a key component of Apple’s product lineup, and according to some sources, might even be the best-selling tablet Apple makes at this point. The smaller tablet hit shelves in early November last year, and likely had a huge impact on Apple’s record tablet sales last quarter, which topped 19.5 million devices. It’s impossible not to see a Retina update in the mini’s future, and new reports (via MacRumors) claim we’ll see production begin for that device this summer.

NPD DisplaySearch analyst says we should see display panel production begin for a Retina iPad mini beginning in June or July, which will be sourced primarily from LG Display, and specifically not from Samsung, Apple’s sometime partner, but not a display supplier for the current iPad mini. The iPad mini with Retina Display should have a 2,048×1536 pixel, 7.9-inch screen, which makes for a PPI of 324, or just about the same as that of the iPhone 5. That would make it fully compatible with apps designed for the full-sized iPad’s Retina screen, but give it an even higher pixel density at the same time thanks to the smaller screen dimensions.

This production start date would fit with an anticipated ship date of between July and September for a Retina iPad mini, thought we’d be much more likely to see such a device arrive in the fall according to recent statements by Apple CEO Tim Cook. During the most recent Apple investor call, he told people to look to fall and 2014 specifically for exciting new product launches from Apple, which seems to indicate we might have to wait at least that long for something as exciting as an iPad mini refresh.

A Retina screen on the iPad mini would help Apple address the only real shortcoming reviewers and critics have identified on the tablet thus far. When the first reviews hit the web, mention of the lack of a Retina display was almost universal, though few cited it as a dealbreaking oversight. Even so, the addition of that capability will likely bring at least as much praise as its absence brought raised eyebrows.

Early rumored case leaks have shown that the next generation might be slightly thicker than the existing version, which would be in keeping with what happened between the iPad 2 and the first Retina Display iPad, which gained both girth and weight over its predecessor. I’m personally hoping that this is an early prototype; the size and weight change between the iPad 2 and 3rd gen device was very noticeable, and took away from the benefits of having a better screen.

Apple isn’t hurting in the tablet game, but some competitors are starting to show stronger numbers than they have in the past, including Asus, which reported earnings this week. Those included 3 million tablets sold for the quarter, a larger portion of which are likely the Nexus 7 Android devices it makes for Google. NPD DisplaySearch says that the Kindle Fire line of tablets will get 300 ppi or higher displays in the next generation, too, so Apple bringing the best-of-breed display in its next-gen device makes sense in terms of helping keep its dominating lead.

It would appear that the analysts at NPD DisplaySearch have run the numbers and decided that the iPad mini with full retina-quality display is well on its way. They’ve made it clear in their most recent report that the iPad mini’s first big update will be appearing in the third quarter of 2013, if all goes well, with another update soon after. The second update, says NPD, will include not only a higher-definition display than the first edition – it’ll have a boosted mobile processor under the hood, as well.

The first update to the iPad mini will likely come right before the Fall school season begins, this lodging the tablet directly into the minds of those prospective users looking to maximize the excellence of their backpack setup. This machine falls in line with users hoping to own their own piece of Apple equipment without going full-sized with the standard iPad. The main line iPad will have reached its 5th generation, more than likely, by the end of this year.

NOTE: This analysis suggests that the report from April 29th from KGI Securities was only referring to the 3rd-generation iPad mini. We shall see!

The iPad mini will be seeing a push to a new display technology, it’s also said, including a possible inclusion of LTPS, the same technology used in the iPhone 5. LPTS is also known as low-temperature polysilicon, and it’ll be sharpening up the iPad mini significantly. The first run of iPad mini units used the same number of pixels as the original iPad, allowing it to be a bit more dense than that first-gen tablet, but still falling well below the current-gen iPad with so-called “retina” display.

This set of predictions has the iPad mini with Retina display and higher-powered processor set for the first quarter of 2014 while the end of summer will be a likely plant-point for the iPad mini with just a bit of a display boost on its own. Meanwhile it’s expected that a new low-cost iPhone may be appearing before the end of the year alongside a specifications-boosted iPhone 5S. Of course this is all speculation as Apple keeps its real plans under notoriously tight wraps.

[via CNET]

Retina iPad mini update coming quick says analyst, chip boost in 2014 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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The 7-inch Kindle Fire tablet from Amazon kick started the trend of small and mid-range tablets, that is the view that some have. While this can be debated upon, there’s no denying the fact that Google soon followed suit and released its own 7-inch tablet. Apple was a little late to the party with their iPad mini, but they made sure that their product will stand out from the crowd both in terms of finesse and price. It is now being reported that Amazon is developing a new 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet, this according to analyst Richard Shim of NPD DisplaySearch.

He claims that 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet will tout a 2560×1600 display with approximately 300 pixels per inch, that’s a greater pixel density than that of Retina Display iPad 4 which has 264 pixels per inch. Mass production of this new tablet will reportedly begin in the third quarter of 2013 and the company might, this is an unconfirmed rumor but still, release revamped 7-inch and 8.9-inch Kindle Fire models with near 300 PPI displays. No details about specifications, pricing and availability have been divulged just yet. Analysts are known to speculate about unreleased products, that doesn’t mean a company’s product roadmap has been revealed. Amazon has not yet commented on this rumor, so there still exists a possibility that the 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet is much more similar to a figment of the imagination.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New Surface Tablet With 7.5-Inch Display Will Allegedly Sell For $399, New Nexus 7 Tablet Google I/O Release Rumored,

Last year Apple finally released the iPad mini. This tablet was rumored for quite some time and it was believed that Apple was releasing it just so it could establish a footing in the mid-range tablet market. That particular niche of the global tablet market is largely dominated by Android tablets manufactured by a number of companies, including Amazon and Google/Asus. According to a new report from Digitimes, their unnamed sources claim that 64% of all iPad shipments in the previous quarter were courtesy of iPad mini.

Apple is also rumored to be working on two new models of iPad mini, which will be released this year. Recently we heard rumors about a cheaper iPad mini, which wouldn’t bring a new display technology, but would come with a relatively low price tag of $200. The Retina display iPad mini is expected to be released this fall and will probably retain the current price point of this tablet. If the iPad mini indeed led iPad shipments last quarter, perhaps it could be due to the fact that Apple has traditionally released new iPads in March, and prospective customers might have held off their purchases in anticipation of a new model. What do you think?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: American Airlines Says Pilot Injuries Reduced As iPads Replace Flight Bags, Samsung’s New DDR3 RAM To Provide PC Like Performance For Mobile Devices,

The iPad mini was launched last year and while it was certainly a smaller device with an interesting design, one of my pet peeves with it was that its display certainly paled in comparison compared to the latest iPad and the iPhone. Granted it wasn’t a horrible display, but with Apple taking pride in their Retina displays, it certainly felt weird that it was omitted from the device. In any case according to the rumors, the iPad mini 2 is expected to launch with a Retina display, but a report by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has indicated that there are currently some production problems with the display which could cause a delay in launch which if history is any indication, could see a launch sometime later this year.

The apparent production problems in producing this Retina display for the iPad mini 2 has also led Kuo to believe that in place of an iPad mini 2 with a Retina display, Apple could instead introduce a low-cost iPad (around $199-$249) to keep themselves relevant, boost sales as well as hopefully cut into Android’s low-cost tablet market and fend off rivals from the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, for example. Kuo has been pretty good with his forecasts in the past, but since this information cannot be verified by Apple, take it with a grain of salt for now, but we’re sure that many iPad mini 2 hopefuls will be disappointed if this news proves to be true.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Even Cheaper iPad Mini Rumored To Be In The Works, Analyst: iPad 5 To Be 15% Thinner And 25% Lighter Than Predecessor,