With the New iPad ‘3’ out of the way, all eyes are now on the next big iOS product launch, the iPhone 5. However there now could be another iOS product in the pipeline that may debut this year as well, an iPad mini.
iPad Mini and iPhone 5 to take on Samsung Galaxy S3 & Note in 2012? (rumors)
Apple has been working on a smaller version of the iPad in its Cupertino labs, reports Daring Fireball’s John Gruber. In an episode of The Talk Show podcast, Gruber mentioned that he heard about a 7.85-inch iPad mini prototype with the same 1024 x 768 resolution as the iPad 1 and 2 were undergoing testing in Apple’s labs. Given that the resolution and 7.85-inch form factor works out to around 163 pixels per inch, it mens that there will be a sharpness increase over the original iPad without apps needing to be re-optimized for the new screen size. A big plus for app developers.
If these rumors do come true, then we may see another intermediate device between the iPhone 5 and New iPad ‘3’. Given that the iPad was originally criticized for just being a giant iPhone sans calling capabilities, if the iPad mini does end up being allowed to make phone calls just like the original Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 could, we could see a tablet/phone hybrid option for Apple fans.
The Samsung Galaxy Note has been selling extremely well and the market is expected to be flooded with more phone/tablet hybrids in 2012 such as the ASUS Padfone. The question here though is, if Apple does in fact release a 7.85-inch iPad Mini tablet/phone hybrid, do we really need a iPhone 5 with a display as massive as 5-inches like rumors suggest, or would the 3.5-inch form factor suffice?
Would you be interested in a iPad-iPhone hybrid?
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