Will Apple iPad Mini work despite its higher price than rivals?

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Apple introduced a smaller iPad to take on competition with devices from Amazon.com Inc., Google Inc. and others. Apple has priced the iPad Mini at $329, that will cost much more than its competitors, signaling that the company isn't going to get into a mini-tablet price war .

The company unveiled the iPad Mini on Tuesday, with a screen about two-thirds the size of the full model, and half the weight. Customers can begin ordering the new model on Oct 26. In a surprise, Apple also revamped its flagship, full-sized iPad just six months after the launch of the latest model.

Apple is charging $329 and up for the Mini - a price that fits into the Apple product lineup between the latest iPod Touch ($299) and the iPad 2 ($399). Company watchers had been expecting Apple to price the iPad Mini at $250 to $300 to compete with the Kindle Fire, which starts at $159. Barnes & Noble Inc.'s Nook HD and Google Inc.'s Nexus 7 both start at $199.

Apple has sold more than 100 million iPads since their debut in April 2010. Analysts expect Apple to sell 5 million to 10 million iPad Minis before the year is out.

Apple starts taking orders for the new model on Friday. The iPad Mini will be competing for the attention of gadget shoppers with the release that same day of computers and tablets running Windows 8, Microsoft's new operating system.

Wi-Fi-only models will ship on Nov 2. Later, the company will add models capable of accessing cellular, LTE data networks.

The screen of the iPad Mini is 7.9 inches on the diagonal, making it larger than the 7-inch screens of the competitors. It also sports two cameras, on the front and on the back, which the competitors don't.

The iPad Mini is as thin as a pencil and weighs 0.68 pounds, half as much as the full-size iPad with its 9.7-inch screen.

The screen resolution is 1024 by 768 pixels, the same as the iPad 2 and a quarter of the resolution of the flagship iPad, which starts at $499.

The new model has better apps and is easier to use than competitors such as Google's Nexus, said Avi Greengart, a consumer electronics analyst with Current Analysis.


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Keywords:Apple , iPad , Inc., Google Inc,iPad Mini ,iPod Touch , Nook HD ,Nexus 7 ,Windows 8, Microsoft,operating system, LTE data networks,pencil, Avi Greengart,business news