With every day that passes we see more and more rumors regarding a smaller iPad model that’s scheduled to arrive soon. The 7-inch iPad, called by some the iPad 2, is now said to be here in time for Christmas so better get started on that letter to Santa.
The 7-inch iPad hasn’t been confirmed by Apple yet, but we’ve seen plenty of rumors coming left and right about its existence. If the device does indeed come out before the holidays, then we probably can expect another serious tablet competitor out there.
Not only will the 7-inch iPad be cheaper than the 10-inch model, but it could also be a great competitor to the plethora of tablets scheduled to hit stores later this year or early in 2011: the BlackBerry BlackPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Asus Eee Pad or the Motorola Stingray.
What’s interesting here is that while Apple competitors are trying to come up with an iPad alternative that’s cheaper and ready to offer a bunch of features the iPad lacks, Apple is building a smaller iPad, that could deliver an important blow to its rivals. Why? Because like I said above such a model would be cheaper, and Apple already prove it can build great tablets (not perfect though) while nobody else has been able to match them yet in this niche.
So where does this piece of news come from? Taiwan, where else? It looks like the Economic Daily News is saying that Chimei Innolux is making the 7-inch LCD displays for Apple, and the panels use the same IPS technology found on the 9.7-inch iPad. The touchscreen technology is coming from Cando Corporation and Compal Electronics is going to build the iPad 2.
Does that all mean the 7-inch tablet is coming by Christmas? In case that’s true then we can expect Apple to announce it at the iPod event in September or later on in October in order to build enough buzz and make the most of the holiday season shopping sprees. That’s right in line with what we’ve seen yesterday, a few lines of code suggesting that a new iPad and CDMA iPhone are ready for field-testing.
So, tablet potential customers, would you rather buy a 7-inch iPad this Christmas or something from the competition?
The 7-inch iPad hasn’t been confirmed by Apple yet, but we’ve seen plenty of rumors coming left and right about its existence. If the device does indeed come out before the holidays, then we probably can expect another serious tablet competitor out there.
Not only will the 7-inch iPad be cheaper than the 10-inch model, but it could also be a great competitor to the plethora of tablets scheduled to hit stores later this year or early in 2011: the BlackBerry BlackPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, the Asus Eee Pad or the Motorola Stingray.
What’s interesting here is that while Apple competitors are trying to come up with an iPad alternative that’s cheaper and ready to offer a bunch of features the iPad lacks, Apple is building a smaller iPad, that could deliver an important blow to its rivals. Why? Because like I said above such a model would be cheaper, and Apple already prove it can build great tablets (not perfect though) while nobody else has been able to match them yet in this niche.
So where does this piece of news come from? Taiwan, where else? It looks like the Economic Daily News is saying that Chimei Innolux is making the 7-inch LCD displays for Apple, and the panels use the same IPS technology found on the 9.7-inch iPad. The touchscreen technology is coming from Cando Corporation and Compal Electronics is going to build the iPad 2.
Does that all mean the 7-inch tablet is coming by Christmas? In case that’s true then we can expect Apple to announce it at the iPod event in September or later on in October in order to build enough buzz and make the most of the holiday season shopping sprees. That’s right in line with what we’ve seen yesterday, a few lines of code suggesting that a new iPad and CDMA iPhone are ready for field-testing.
So, tablet potential customers, would you rather buy a 7-inch iPad this Christmas or something from the competition?
