iPad Mini unveiling expected at October 23 event

And more importantly the iPod Touch comes in at $299, forcing the iPad Mini into an expensive $350+ price range.

Posted:7 months ago

Full analysis by top industry expert here: http://www.kwalee.com/2012/10/04/ipad-mini-what-can-we-expect/ :-) :-)

Seriously this will be more massive for gaming than the 10 inch tablets. There is a huge difference between using a 10 inch tablet and a 7 inch tablet that makes 7 inches far more optimised for gaming. Size really matters with these portable devices. Apple have been really clever with the iPhone 5 screen size, not going monster like the top Android phones. The Apple solution means you can use the phone one handed which is much more user friendly.

Posted:7 months ago

@Tim Spencer. I still think that ultimately the walled garden of Apple will fail. And already it is when you look at the 1.3 million daily Android activations. Apple's share of the world smartphone market has been in considerable decline for some time. Just look at this: http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-android-activations-per-day-2012-9

And just for balance of my predictive skills just look at #5 on this list from mid 2007: http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/08/02/we-are-still-at-the-beginning-of-the-industry/
Unlike you I have nearly 1,000 articles published with my views and opinions in the game industry over a length of time. So I wasn't always right. Are you?

Posted:7 months ago

Is this thing supposed to be able to fit in your pocket?

Posted:7 months ago

Is this thing supposed to be able to fit in your pocket?

Yes. All the tablets do. Even the 10.1 ones. Maybe your pocket is just too small ;)

Edited 1 times. Last edit by Tom Keresztes on 17th October 2012 3:02pm

Posted:7 months ago

So a not-so-pocket-friendly tablet with no buttons is supposed to be the death knell for the very-pocket-friendly portable consoles with buttons?

OK.

Posted:7 months ago

This device just isn't needed from a user point of view in my opinion. I find it an odd proposition, but you'd be a fool to suggest it wont sell. It probably will. The Ipad is perfect size as an in home device for the living room and evening reading. The iphone is good for out and about and in your pocket. This is clearly a price focused product that's designed to disrupt the e-reader/amazon tablet market and to recruit some of those people across to the apple ecosystem. You wont be able to read in direct sunlight either, so I assume people who actually like reading outside will be happy enough with their kindle.

Posted:7 months ago

And just for balance of my predictive skills just look at #5 on this list from mid 2007: http://www.bruceongames.com/2007/08/02/we-are-still-at-the-beginning-of-the-industry/

My business teacher was telling me about the huge potential for gaming mobile phones back in 2002, citing the huge sales of mobile phones in Scandinavia alone, so that was definitely coming, good prediction.

Edited 3 times. Last edit by Keldon Alleyne on 17th October 2012 4:28pm

Posted:7 months ago

Apple builds Rolls Royces and felt caught out when competitors came in with Fords which could get you from A to B quite adequately. In homes with three teenagers, can all parents afford three iPads? The marketing for Kindle Fire seems to be targeting smaller fingers and Apple wants to access that market; younger people want Apple products (a survey last week discovered that almost twice as many USA teens own iPhones this year (40%) than last (23%) with 63% of teens saying an iPhone would be their next phone) and now Apple is bringing the iPad, and the Apple brand, to them.

Posted:7 months ago

@nicholas That's why they dropped the price of the iPad 2 though. To tempt and scoop up the people who considered it to be outside of their price range . It just seems a weird size of device to go for in my mind. I find the size of the galaxy tab strange as well. Feels caught in the middle of being a decent size viewing device and a pocket device, and does neither really that well. An iPad is a computer replacement for many people. I don't think the smaller devices are. iPad 2 can be picked up for 399 dollars. not 499 as stated above. Its far from a groundbreaking design idea but as you say it might get the ford drivers aspiring to the bigger and better rolls royce once the grow up, if this is what they can afford in the mean time. Be interesting to see the retail price and whether they stop shipping the iPad2 as a result.

Posted:7 months ago

The tablet will supposedly sport a 7.85-inch screen and a lower price point than its full-size counterpart to cut into competitors' price advantages

This will sell. Some Apple fans will want a small tablet. Some people with some money behind them, who currently buy every second iPad may now buy the 7 and 10 inch iPads on alternate years, and may appeal to those who find the full size iPad a little too expensive. But I don't see how it will eat into competitors' price advantages. As pointed out, the pricing of the new iPod makes it nearly impossible to price this below $350, anyone buying the Nexus or Kindle devices purely because of the price, will still recognise this is over double the entry level Kindle Fire, nearly double the Kindle Fire HD or entry Nexus 7.

Posted:7 months ago