Aakash 2 to go on Sale from Nov 11; India will Also Showcase Aakash Tablet at UN

The highly anticipated low cost Aakash 2 tablet is confirmed to go on sale in the Indian market from November 11. The recent news break has affirmed that the new tablet will run on Google’sAndroid 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) firmware, and will be powered by 1 GHz processor accompanied with a battery life of about 4 hours at a cost of Rs. 1500. 

Meanwhile, India will also showcase its low-cost Aakash tablet at the United Nations, highlighting the country’s innovation involved in the “most competitively priced” tablet computer. 

According to the PTI report, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Hardeep Singh Puri said a presentation on the tablet will be held on November 28 at the world body’s headquarters here to which UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon will be invited. 

Suneet Singh Tuli, CEO of Canada-based Datawind, which had won the Indian government’s tender for making and supplying the tablets, will also be present on the occasion. 

Aakash has been “described as the most competitively priced tablet computer by an Indian-origin entrepreneur,” Puri said at a news conference yesterday to outline the Council’s monthly agenda under India’s presidency. 

He said while the tablet would be called “frugal innovation” in UN terminology, it is a “competitively priced innovation.” 

Reportedly, Puri said the Indian mission to the UN took the initiative to showcase the tablet at the world body and other UN member states as well as media persons will be invited to the event.

Tuli would make a presentation to the UN audience on Aakash, which was launched in October last year by the Indian government to make available computing devices to students at subsidised rates. 

The Indian mission intends to distribute a limited number of Aakash tablets to some member states. 

Datawind had won the tender in 2010 to supply 1 lakh Aakash tablets for a price of around $49 per unit. The project had run into controversy following the Indian Institute of Technology at Rajasthan rejecting the devices manufactured by Datawind. 

The Indian mission will also organise a cultural event at the UN on November 26 featuring the Shahi qawwals, who will be flying in from Ajmer for a Sufi music concert at UN on occasion of India’s presidency.

Apple Announces 3 Million iPad Mini and iPad 4th Gen Sold in Three Days

Apple’s newest members of the iPad line-up, the iPad mini and the updated iPad 4th gen, have managed to sell more than 3 million units in three days since launch.

Usually I’d say that was a pretty good number, but it’s not really that impressive, considering that they combined sales for both the iPad Mini and the new 4th gen iPad, so you dont really know how many of each have sold. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook stated;

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad. We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

The numbers also dont include cellular iPads which wont ship for another few weeks. Still better than the 1.5 Million Wifi 3rd gen iPads sold at it’s launch, I guess? Considering that that the new 4th gen iPad and iPad mini are available to buy in 34 countries though, it really does seem like a somewhat small-ish number for Apple.

Still, I’m thinking a huge part of that number is the iPad Mini, eh? Full Press Release below.

Press Release

Apple Sells Three Million iPads in Three Days Wi-Fi Only Models of New iPad mini & Fourth Generation iPad Double Previous First Weekend Sales

CUPERTINO, California—November 5, 2012—Apple® today announced it has sold three million iPads in just three days since the launch of its new iPad® mini and fourth generation iPad—double the previous first weekend milestone of 1.5 million Wi-Fi only models sold for the third generation iPad in March. The Wi-Fi + Cellular versions of both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad will ship in a few weeks in the US and in many more countries later this year.

“Customers around the world love the new iPad mini and fourth generation iPad,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “We set a new launch weekend record and practically sold out of iPad minis. We’re working hard to build more quickly to meet the incredible demand.”

The new iPad mini features a stunning 7.9-inch Multi-Touch™ display, FaceTime® HD and iSight® cameras, ultrafast wireless performance* and an incredible 10 hours of battery life**. The new fourth generation iPad features a gorgeous 9.7-inch Retina™ display, new Apple-designed A6X chip, FaceTime HD camera and ultrafast wireless performance.

Both iPad mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina display are available in 34 countries including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and the UK, and will be available in many more countries later this year, including mainland China. Demand for iPad mini exceeded the initial supply and while many of the pre-orders have been shipped to customers, some are scheduled to be shipped later this month.

Pricing & Availability iPad mini with Wi-Fi comes in either white & silver or black & slate, and is available in the US for a suggested retail price of $329 (US) for the 16GB model, $429 (US) for the 32GB model and $529 (US) for the 64GB model. Fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi models are available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. Both iPad mini and fourth generation iPad are available from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPad mini with Wi-Fi + Cellular and fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular will be available in the US on AT&T, Sprint and Verizon in a few weeks. iPad mini with Wi-Fi + Cellular will be offered for a suggested retail price of $459 (US) for the 16GB model, $559 (US) for the 32GB model and $659 (US) for the 64GB model. Fourth generation iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon will be offered for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. Additionally, iPad 2 is available at $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model where they are sold now.

*LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks. Check with your carrier for details. **Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

NOOK Preorder Records – Simple Touch cut to $119

Barnes & Noble Inc Chief Executive William Lynch proudly declared yesterday that the pre-order numbders for their latest line of new Nook tablets called NOOK HD and NOOK HD+, were the highest in the companys history.

By Tom Bowen – It once again reflected in Barnes & Noble’s (BKS) stock price on both Monday and Tuesday, with shares continuing their climb upwards since the unveiling of the new Nook’s.

The 7-inch NOOK HD and the 9-inch NOOK HD+ were both unveiled on September 26 with a entry price of $199 and $269 respectively. Both of these high-resolution tablets will start shipping later this month, well ahed of Amazon’s $299 Kindle Fire HD 8.9 that won’t be released until November 20.

Barnes & Noble also cut the price of the ereader NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight from $139 to $119 today.

(UK) Buy a Samsung NX20 Camera and Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Free

Samsung and Amazon.co.uk are offering a nice give-away together, which could prove very helpful before Christmas – Buy a Samsung NX20 Compact System Camera and you’ll get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7-inch for free.

UK Samsung NX20 Tablet Deal

This offer is valid to January 9, 2013. In addition, you may claim a £100 cashback. As you might expect, theNX20 camera camera isn’t exactly cheap, at £779, but with £100 in cashback, it’s down to £679, while you get a £195 worth Android tablet thrown in on the bargain.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 UK Deal

Acer Iconia W700 pre-orders now for $799.99

Acer’s first Windows 8 tablet, the Acer Iconia Tab W700 with cradle is now available to order for $799.99. It started shipping on October 26, with the official release date of Windows 8.

[UPDATED: Acer W700 started with a pre-order price of $749.99 on Amazon, but sold out before the release. It now retails with the regular list price, starting at $799.99 for the cheapest model.]

By Jim Miller – The Acer Iconia W700 was first unveiled at the Computex trade show back in June, and is now finally available for pre-order, 2 weeks before the October 26 release date.

Acer has built what it likes to think of as a “high-performance Windows 8 PC in tablet form with a portable design for mobile productivity” with the Iconia W700. And with the option of either 1.7GHz or 1.8GHz Core i3 or i5 Ivy Bridge processors, it’s powerful enough to replace a laptop or desktop computer and handle office and productivity tasks. It even has 4GB of RAM which really is a lot for a tablet.
Storage options are either 64GB or 128GB. And there are many more office friendly features provided by the Acer Iconia W700.

Acer Iconia W700 Pre-Order Price

Since the Acer Iconia W700 is running Windows 8, it is compatible with previous x86 programs, something that will be appreciated both in and out of the office.

The screen is a slick looking 11.6-inch IPS display with full 1080p HD, and 1920×1080 resolution, which will be enjoyed when watching videos (16:9 aspect ratio), ensured by the Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics processor.

It also has a high-brightness display that makes viewing in sunlight possible, coupled with wide viewing angles.

Of course, one of the things that really makes this tablet stand out from other Windows 8 tablets, is the particular cradle it comes with, together with the Bluetooth keyboard.

The cradle will hold the W700 in two different positions: 70 or 20 degrees in landscape mode. But the cradle also adds three more USB 3.0 ports, as well as charge the tablet.

The new Windows 8 OS enables some fast power-up features for the Acer Iconia W700 such as Acer Green Instant On that gives the W700 a boot time of six seconds, and an instant-resume functionality of 1.5 seconds. So nothing to complain about there.

Wi-Fi connectivity comes in form of 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, with Acer Always Connect that optimally should connect users to previously used hotspots in 2.5 seconds.

It has sensors like accelerometer, e-compass, and gyro, a 5MP rear camera with full HD 1080p video, and a front-facing HD 720p webcam. The sound is pretty loud from the built-in speakers, and there is also Dolby Home Theater v4 sound boost for headphones.

As for dimensions, it weighs in at 2.3 pounds, and is less than an inch thick.
Battery life will last up to 8 hours, and considering the power this tablet has, we can’t complain about battery life.

The Acer Iconia Tab W700 was released on October 26 in the US with a MSRP starting at $799.99.Amazon.com took pre-orders for $749.99, but sold out before the release. This is a very popular tablet, so it will be out of stock pretty early. Acer W700 is also available from TigerDirect.
In the UK, you can order the Acer W700 from £599.99. It will also be available in Canada soon.

Acer Iconia W700 Pre-Order Prices
Best Price	$799.99	$849.99	$949.99	$1,049.99
Model Number	W700-6607	W700-6691	W700-6465	W700P-6459
Processor	1.8 GHz Core i3-3217U	1.7 GHz Core i5-3317U	1.7 GHz Core i5-3317U	1.7 GHz Core i5-3317U
Hard Drive	64 GB SSD	64 GB SSD	128 GB SSD	128 GB SSD
RAM	4 GB SDRAM	4 GB SDRAM	4 GB SDRAM	4 GB SDRAM
OS	Windows 8	Windows 8	Windows 8	Windows 8 Pro

Included with the Acer Iconia W700 tablet is a charger, Bluetooth keyboard, cradle, protective case, and MicroHDMI to VGA adapter for a quick projector connection.

Acer Iconia W700

Acer IconiaTab W700 Back

Acer Iconia Tab W700 in Docking

Acer Iconia Tab W700 in Portrait

Acer Iconia Tab W700 in Dock Left Side

Acer Iconia Tab W700 in Dock Right Side

Acer Iconia W700 Docking

Acer Iconia Tab W700 Bluetooth Keyboard

Sony Tablet S Gets ICS Android 4.0 Official Update in US

Big news for Sony Tablet S users who were waiting for Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update on their devices. After updating Xperia Ray, Xperia Neo V and Xperia S smartphone, now its Sony Tablet S turns. In US Sony Tablet S which has received the Android 4.0 update. Previously the Sony Tablet S had Android 3.2.1 Honeycomb operating system although with this update you will perceive Android 4.0.3 as the OS version on your tablet.

With the Android 4.0 update, Sony Tablet S comes with lots of new features like face unlock and limited data usage, along with panoramic picture capture. New and special features we can record video and take picture at the same time. Main improvement is interface. With Android 4.0 update the Sony Tablet S improved lot and below are some feature which included on this update:

• Enhanced lock screen with direct access to notification
• Face unlock feature too available
• Panoramic picture camera shoot
• Direct SD card access and photo editing tool
• Calculator, Browser, Remote control moved to Small Apps folder
• Reduced clutter on the home screen
• New home screen options of drag and drop to create folders
• Comes with Enhanced web browser
• Comes with detailed data usage
• Native screenshot capture using the Volume and power button.

Would you buy an iPad Mini?

As September draws ever closer, consumers, tech enthusiasts and Apple fanboys and girls eagerly await the announcement of the new iPhone, but for the first time in as long as I can remember, there is another Apple device receiving just as much interest at exactly the same time: The mythical iPad Mini.

Normally most Apple rumours take a sideline during iPhone season, but countless leaks, mumblings from ‘sources close to the matter’ and other blogosphere hyperbole have dragged iPad Mini rumours kicking and screaming into the public consciousness. I hear just as many people chatting about the mini iPad as I do Apple’s next mobile handset, which shows just how high the level of public interest the device really is.

With virtually every possible source, bar Apple themselves, leaking information about the iPad Mini, it seems the device is almost certainly being manufactured somewhere in China ahead of a holiday season launch. So this begs the question: Will you be buying one?

Is 7 to 8 inches too small for a tablet? Will you be willing to spend upwards of £300 on a device that does little more than your smartphone? At the end of the day, why go just a little bigger when you could get a 10 inch iPad 2? These are all important questions to ask, so let’s turn to the Android ecosystem, where mid-sized tablets have been available for some time now.

Despite several 7 inch Android tablets from the likes of Samsung and HTC stumbling at the first hurdle (see Samsung Galaxy Tab, HTC Flyer), the 5 inch Samsung Galaxy Note has been an unexpected success in recent months, with over 10 million units sold since its launch last October. Admittedly this is a smaller device, but it shows a definite interest in hardware larger than most smartphones, but smaller than the iPad. A device that you can still use on the go without needing to sit down to operate effectively.

Now let’s add the Google Nexus 7 to the mix. Google’s new flagship tablet has seen overwhelmingly positive reviews over the past couple of months. Even diehard Apple fans are praising it, thanks to the highly polished Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. Sales of the Nexus 7 have been brisk and sales figures for the tablets first quarter are expected to impress.

With the recent success of the mid-sized Android tablet, it’s no wonder Apple are looking to join the party with a similarly sized iPad. Apple will still sell millions of units regardless of market trends simply because there are millions of developers, tech enthusiasts and Apple fans who’ll want one for themselves, so it might take a couple of hardware generations before we see its more accurate market interest.

Perhaps 7 to 8 inches will be the sweet spot for the tablet form factor. As less and less phone calls are made in favour of instant messages, we may find ourselves carrying tablets instead of smartphones by the end of the decade. I personally use a 4.65 inch Android smartphone and could easily see myself moving to something larger, like a Nexus 7, if I continue to make fewer phone calls. Whether I’m alone in feeling this way or not, only time will tell, but every year devices are getting gradually bigger whilst hardware sales continue to skyrocket.

Will you be throwing your money at an iPad Mini if it materialises, or do you think 10 inches is the way to go? Is a smartphone/laptop combo your preferred solution going forward?, or do you still rock a Nokia and have nothing to do with all that touch screen mumbo jumbo?

Let me know in the comments below…

Apple goes to war with its rivals

Apple, Google and now Microsoft are slugging it out in the battle to sell us tablet computers. And the competition can only be a good thing

This has been quite a week in that strange, frenetic universe known as techworld. Two major companies did things that they once vowed they'd never do: Apple launched a small iPad in order to attack similar-sized devices marketed by its rivals – Samsung, Google and Amazon – and Microsoftlaunched the first computer it's ever made (a tablet called Surface). So we have Apple playing catch-up and Microsoft getting into a business – hardware manufacture – it had hitherto wisely avoided.

The Apple launch followed the usual pattern: slick presentations by chaps with chronic logorrhea – at least in relation to the word "amazing"; a complaisant audience drawn from the Church of Steve; and announcements of improved versions of existing Apple products. There's a new laptop with a Retina (ultra high-resolution) display, a new Mac mini (a much underrated product IMHO) and an iMac desktop so thin as to be positively anorexic. All nice and dandy – not to mention expensive.

But then came one departure from tradition. Just over 55 minutes into the show, as Phil Schiller, Apple's senior marketing guy, was extolling the virtues of the new iPad mini, he suddenly launched into what in industry parlance is known as trashtalk. He embarked on a scathing comparison of le nouvel iPad with "an Android tablet", sneeringly dubbed "the latest, greatest, most favourably reviewed new device", aka the Google Nexus 7. Needless to say, the Apple product was superior in every respect. Its bezel was thinner and made of aluminium, not (yuck!) "plastic". The Google device was "thicker and heavier even though it has a smaller screen", etc etc. You get the message: Nexus 7 may be the same size as the iPad mini, but basically it's trash. (He omitted to mention that the Google device is also at least £100 cheaper than its Apple counterpart.)

As an iPad user who has also been using a Nexus 7 for months, I happen to agree with Schiller about the deficiencies of the Google product. It's excellent for some things (email, Evernote, diary keeping, for example) but unsatisfactory for others (web-browsing in particular). Its onscreen keyboard is, well, a bit flaky. And the standard of Android apps is pretty variable. On the other hand, it's well-made and is relatively good value for money. In technology, as in life, you get what you pay for.

What made Schiller's attack on the Nexus intriguing was not its content but the fact that he felt the need to make it. It signified a descent from the lofty heights to which Steve Jobshad elevated Apple, so far ahead of the competition that it didn't condescend even to admit its existence. And this subtext suggests that although Apple comprehensively dominates the market for high-end tablets that it effectively created with the iPad, it's now trying to keep up with the market for smaller, pocketable devices. One of the most important advantages of the Nexus 7, for example, is that it really does slip into a jacket pocket. (The same goes for Samsung and Amazon tablets.) In many contexts, that's actually quite useful, which is how Apple comes to be doing something that must be making Steve Jobs rotate in his grave: playing catch-up.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Microsoft was launching the first computer it has ever made in the form of its Surface tablet. This was intriguing in several ways. For one thing, it suggests that the software giant has finally concluded that Steve Jobs was right all along: that in order to make consumer-friendly computers one must control both the hardware and the software. The odd thing, though, is that the bit of the package it seems to have got right is the hardware. "Sleek Tablet but Clumsy Software " is how David Pogue, the New York Times technology columnist, summed it up, echoing early industry reactions to the device. "You have to be fairly cold-blooded," Pogue writes, "to keep your pulse down the first time you see the Surface: its beauty, its potential, its instant transformation from tablet to PC. How incredible that this bold, envelope-pushing design came from Microsoft, a company that for years produced only feeble imitations of other companies' fresh ideas. And how ironic that what lets the Surface down is supposedly Microsoft's speciality: software."

I don't have a dog in this fight, but I hope Microsoft gets its tablet act together. In the end, the only thing that keeps big technology companies honest is real competition. I don't want to live in an Apple-dominated world any more than I liked living in a Microsoft-dominated one. Which means, I guess, I will never get an invitation to a Phil Schiller superlatives-fest. In which case, virtue will be its own reward.

Transparent laptop

Samsung astounded the public of the CES when introducing its semitransparent laptop with AMOLED screen.

iPad mini pricing possibly revealed by European inventory list

Android tablet makers are quaking in their boots, and hoping that a report unearthed over the weekend isn't true. On Saturday, German tech blogger Florian Schimankeposted what appeared to be an inventory list of the various iPad mini models including prices.

The bottom line of the report (pun intended) is that the lowest cost iPad mini price would be 249 euros for a wi-fi only 8GB model. Sharp-eyed readers will note that we just wrote euros. However, as Gizmodo points out, for the third-generation iPad, Apple doesn't convert prices, it just moves them straight over (so the euro price is numerically the dollar price).

If Apple follows that policy - meaning a starting price of $249 - Android tablet makers could be in trouble.

Compare that to the 8GB Google Nexus which runs $199 and the Kindle Fire HD (16GB) at $199. While those would seem to have a price advantage over the iPad mini, assuming the prices are correct, remember that the iPad is the only device many consider when it comes to a tablet.

Without a significant, not just minimal, price advantage, the iPad mini could kill Android tablets, or at least decimate sales. Lower-priced Android tablets have proved somewhat successful against the iPad, but the mini - if truly priced at $249 - might prevent that.

On the other hand, speculation has been that the iPad mini would start at $349, and if the 249 euro figure were converted to dollars, it would be $320.

Another thing that is interesting, is that the price list includes a number of cellular iPad minis. It was also speculated that the iPad mini might come in wi-fi only form.

Many Windows 8 Tablets Will Sport a Keyboard

Will tablets that can transform into laptops challenge the iPad?

The meteoric rise of Apple's iPad has caused many people to neglect their laptops, or put off buying a new one. But many tablets released for Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system next month will attempt to make peace between the two formats—they'll ship with snap-on keyboards.

Two-in-one: Asus’ Vivo Tab, which will use Intel’s new Atom chip and Microsoft’s Windows 8 software, will be available with a detachable keyboard.
Credit: Asus

Major computer manufacturers, including Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Acer, and Samsung, are all readying convertible tablets. Of the many sleek slabs in black, white, or silvery gray shown off at an event in San Francisco on Thursday held by chip maker Intel to highlight its newest Atom processor, almost all will be available with a detachable keyboard.

Computer manufacturers are struggling to catch up with Apple, which essentially created the tablet market in 2010 with the release of the iPad. Tablets had been offered before by other companies, but Apple was the first to successfully sell consumers on the idea of a thin slab that operates somewhere between a smartphone and a laptop computer. Some analysts say there is evidence the iPad has eaten into the revenues of other computer manufacturers by causing people to decide against buying a laptop.

A slew of companies have released tablets in the iPad's wake, mostly using Google's Android operating software, but these have largely failed to take off. A fresh generation of Atom chips from Intel, combined with the release of Windows 8 on October 26, provides electronics manufacturers with another chance. The new chips have design changes intended to make them more power-efficient for longer battery lives, while Windows 8 is designed to work equally well on both tablets and desktop computers (see "Microsoft Gambles on a Tablet-Centric Future "). Offering tablets with detachable keyboards that integrate smartly into a device's design is intended to make this do-over a success, creating devices intended to appeal to both to consumers and business users.

Samsung showed off the latest version of its Slate tablet, a grayish device with a bright touch screen measuring 11.6 inches at the diagonal. It comes with a pressure-sensing stylus called the S-Pen, and will sell with an optional detachable keyboard that uses magnets and latching hardware to stay in place. Unlike most of the devices shown at the event, the Slate had a price and release date: it will be available October 26, the same day Windows 8 launches, for $749 with the keyboard and $649 without.

Allison Kohn, public relations manager for Samsung Electronics America, said the company decided to pair the tablet with a keyboard to help users carry around fewer gadgets. "It simplifies your lifestyle, being able to consolidate your devices," she said.

Asus displayed the Vivo Tab, along with an optional keyboard containing a battery that can add about nine hours to the tablet's overall battery life. Intel says that tablets built with the latest Atom processor can get over 10 hours of battery life. The tablet, which has an 11.6-inch screen, will also go on sale on October 26. Asus was one of the first to experiment with convertible tablets, with a model called the Eee Pad Transformer, initially released in 2011. Spokeswoman Xi Min Sam said that 80 to 90 percent of people who bought the Transformer tablets bought the detachable keyboard, too, seeing it as extending the functionality of a tablet.

One presenter at the event whose new tablet won't include a keyboard is Dell. Buyers of the Latitude 10—which has a 10.1-inch display and a removable battery—will also have the option to purchase a docking station, though, with a smattering of USB ports that will let you plug in, among other accessories, a keyboard.

iPad mini UK pricing will start at £249, screenshot suggests

A man in China takes a closer look at an iPad inside an Apple store during the launch of the device in Beijing in 2010. Will the next one be smaller? Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

A screenshot captured just after Apple put the iPhone 5 on its website may point to the starting price of the as-yet unreleased – and unannounced – iPad mini.

The picture, caught by sharp-eyed reader Kristian Tapaninaho at about 21:20 on 12 September, shows the revised UK Apple Store page with a £249 starting price for the device.

Is this the starting price of the iPad mini in the UK? (A link to the full screenshot is included at the bottom of the post.)

Tapaninaho previously sent the screenshot to the Guardian, and has now blogged about it.

Apple is widely expected to announce a smaller version of its market-leading iPad tablet on 23 October, although the company has not yet issued invites or given any indication that it has a product in the pipeline. But multiple sources have indicated to the Guardian that they expect to see a new product in the category.

Most expectations are that it will be half the size of the existing iPad, which has a screen measuring 9.7in diagonally; rescaling would mean an iPad mini would have a screen measuring 7.85in diagonally, but with a total of half the screen area of its bigger sibling.

And contrary to earlier information from sources last week, other sources have told the Guardian it now looks increasingly likely that the new tablet will include 3G and possibly 4G capabilities.

The price spotted by Tapaninaho chimes with some other prices apparently leaked online and displayed by Mobilegeeks.de, which shows prices in euros for devices starting with Wi-Fi only and 8GB of storage priced at €249.

Converting that from euros gives a base price of £201; adding VAT at 20% gives £242 - though Apple, like most merchants, usually prices just below the next £10 increment, pointing to a £249 base price.

That will leave a price gap compared to the two principal competitors in the sector, Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's Nexus 7. The Kindle Fire, which will be going on sale in the UK, starts at £169 for an ad-free 16GB version and £209 for an ad-free 32GB version, while the Nexus 7 costs £159 for an 8GB version and £199 for a 16GB version.

There is a clear demand in the market for smaller tablets, as evidenced by Carphone Warehouse which said on Monday that the Nexus 7 was its best-selling Android tablet ever.

Graham Stapleton, chief commercial officer for the group, said in a statement: "It's clear that there is a massive demand amongst our customer base for smaller tablets. We're seeing a real shift in what customers are using their tablets for, with more and more watching content on the go. It's now common to see people using their tablets during the morning commute or catching up on the day's news in a local coffee shop, and smaller devices make it easier to handle.

He added: "We've seen that 59% of total tablet sales in our stores are sold as either connected or tethered, to allow access to the internet on tablets that don't have inbuilt 3G connectivity."

That implies that a mobile-capable iPad mini could do well in that space.

The pricing details leaked on Mobilegeeks.de are said to have come from the internal computer system of the German retail chain Media Markt.

Those show versions of the iPad mini with storage offerings of 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. They also suggest that it will come in white or black versions, and with a 3G-capable - and, possibly, 4G-capable – version. That could make it attractive to mobile operators which could sell it alongside the iPhone, or on its own.

By contrast the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 are both so far only available in Wi-Fi-only models.

Tapaninaho has a link to the original screenshot taken on his iPad.