“On Friday, Apple is introducing a much smaller variant, the iPad Mini [sic], which works exactly like the original and runs all the same apps — the 275,000 tablet-optimized programs plus the rest of the over 700,000 apps available for the iOS operating system the iPad shares with Apple’s iPhone,” Walt Mossberg reports for The Wall Street Journal. “The iPad Mini weighs just less than 11 ounces, and is only 0.28 inch thick. That’s 53% lighter and 23% thinner than the standard iPad. It’s 5.3 inches wide versus 7.3 inches for its larger sibling.”
Mossberg reports, “In shrinking the iconic iPad, Apple has pulled off an impressive feat. It has managed to create a tablet that’s notably thinner and lighter than the leading small competitors with 7-inch screens, while squeezing in a significantly roomier 7.9-inch display. And it has shunned the plastic construction used in its smaller rivals to retain the iPad’s sturdier aluminum and glass body. Unlike its two top small tablet competitors, the Mini has a rear camera. And unlike the Kindle Fire HD, it offers optional cellular data connectivity to supplement Wi-Fi. It has very good battery life.”
“I’ve been testing the iPad Mini for several days and found it does exactly what it promises: It brings the iPad experience to a smaller device. Every app that ran on my larger iPad ran perfectly on the Mini. I was able to use it one-handed and hold it for long periods of time without tiring,” Mossberg writes. “It’s about 30% thinner than the leading 7-inch competitors, the Google Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle Fire 7.”
MacDailyNews Take: Use “leading” to describe Google’s and Amazon’s teensy screened wannabes while you still can, Walt.
Mossberg writes, “And it’s about 9% lighter than the Nexus and about 22% lighter than the Fire HD. Even though the Mini is thinner and lighter than the leading 7-inch tablets, its larger screen provides about 35% more room for viewing content like books and Web pages. I found it easy to see and read material on the screen and to tap and swipe. I found the cameras did a very good job. I conducted several clear video chats using the 1.2 megapixel front camera, and the 5-megapixel rear camera produced very good photos and videos. The stereo speakers sounded good to my ears… The iPad mini exceeded Apple’s battery life claim of 10 hours and lasted 10 hours and 27 minutes… In my tests, video looked just fine, but not as good as on the regular iPad… If you love the iPad, or want one, but just found it too large or heavy, the iPad Mini is the perfect solution.”
Read more in the full article here.
Related articles:
NYT’s Pogue reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘All the iPad goodness in a more manageable size; it’s awesome’ – October 31, 2012
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s iPad mini: ‘A splendid choice; terrific for reading, watching movies and playing games’ – October 31, 2012
Never mind Uncle Walt, the left nut rates the mini as 5 stars!!!!!
Well that’s it then… No need for additional reviews… Buy the way… I really am happy you finally got what have been campaigning for over the last year.
Walt has become another AD whore. He tries to sound neutral to keep microsoft and samsung add money coming to his publications.
Oh stop. Do people REALLY think like this? Every time someone doesn’t say “Apple’s competition IS THE WORST THING EVER”, some of you come out of the woodwork and call them a shill.
You really need to get a clue. Apple isn’t perfect, and Apple’s competition is occasionally competent. GET OVER IT!
Ya gotta admit… Walt Mossberg knows where his bread’s buttered. IT’s not a bad thing as there is rarely a thing such as neutral and all people have their own opinions.
It would be great if it could switch between iPad and iPhone mode
Yeah, that ‘hold your iPad Mini against your ear and shout’ look is going to be all the rage this year.
He complains again about the price. Well, if you buy a BMW, do you complain that it costs too much? Go stick with the flippin Yugo then, loser.
Google’s Nexus 7 Sales Top 1M Units and 3 Morning Hot Stocks Trading Today
By Saul Griffith | More Articles
October 31, 2012
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That is the HEADLINE….. “Top 1M” ………
Now take a read of the body….
Asustek Computer, Taiwanese manufacturer of Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, reveals that sales of the device for the latest month was close to a million units. The 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet caused a flutter with its low pricing of $199, but sales are still small compared to Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) quarterly sales of about 14 million iPads.
I Love how vague these stories are with sales numbers. What number is “close to 1M units”????
And AAPL is down and Amazon is Wall Streets Poster Child.
Meanwhile, the iPad Mini & a new refreshed product line from Apple, along with an executive shakeup is now the demise and doom for All Things Apple. Yeah we’ve been here before.