Wal-Mart has cut the price of the iPad mini, adding heft to speculation that next month’s World World Developers’ Conference (WWDC) could be marked by a second take on Apple’s micro-tablet.

The US retail giant, the sheer size of which in its US domestic market makes Tesco look like Arkwright’s homely corner shop from Open All Hours, has trimmed $30 off the iPad mini. That brings the cost of the device down to $299.

Although fairly modest, the price cut comes ahead of Apple’s press call/developers’ get-together in June, suggesting to some tech-watchers that the unveiling of iOS 7 could be accompanied by the company’s Google Nexus 7-challenger.

Recent indications from Apple’s supply-chain had suggested that the iPad mini 2 wouldn’t arrive until much later in the year, after the company’s manufacturing partners purportedly encountered production problems.

These are believed to relate to the challenge of creating a scaled-down high-res Retina display for the slate, as well as issues with the fingerprint-scanning technology that is intended to add an extra layer of security.

Source:

Stabley Times

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Purported specifications for the second-gen iPad mini have leaked online, along with a mock-up imaging how Apple’s next effort is likely to look based on the leaked spec sheet.

According to a source cited by Dutch website MobiLeaks, the slate will pack a 7.9-inch display with 2048 x 1536 pixels (324ppi) and, as rumours suggest, the same Retina display technology as the standard-sized slate.

The slate also packs Apple’s A7 processor, an eight-megapixel camera, a secondary two-megapixel camera for video calls and for snapping those utterly vain and self-regarding self-portraits to post on Twitter so all your mates can see how just purty you are.

As with earlier models, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage options will be on offer and will come in 0.3-inchs slimmer than the current edition at 7.5mm.

Taking the market intel into account, the render imagines how Apple will be able to slim down the device without compromising the screen size by reducing the size of the bezel around the display.

Truth be told, it looks pretty cool too. But like a few other tech watchers, we’re not sure there’s any particular imperative to shrink the iPad mini this early in the range’s life, so we wouldn’t be surprised if the real tablet retains the same dimensions as the current one.

Source:

Mobilinks

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