iPad Mini: All you need to know

The new iPad Mini is Apple's first device targeted at the smaller (7 inch) tablet market, which is currently occupied by the Google Nexus, Samsung Galaxy Tab and the Kindle Fire. We thought we'd take a look at its design and features.

As you might have guessed the iPad Mini is essentially a smaller version of the iPad 2. It has the same screen resolution (1024-by-768) and the same A5 processor. It is 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter that the iPad (3rd generation); in addition, it can fit in one hand. But what does this really mean?

Design

According to Apple the iPad Mini is a concentration of the original rather than a reduction. It has a refined aluminium unibody design that is slightly flatter and squarer than the large iPad. It comes in either Black and Slate or White and Silver like the iPhone 5. It has a glass front that runs to a bezel on the edge of the device. It weighs in at 308.443g (0.68lb) and is 7.2 mm thick.

Screen

The screen on the iPad Mini is 7.9-inch diagonally and has a screen resolution of 1,024 x 768 pixels. This is the same resolution as the iPad and iPad 2; however, it is less than the iPad 3 with the Retina display.

The matching resolution combined with a smaller screen means that the iPad Mini has a higher pixel density than the iPad 2 because the pixels are more closely packed. A screen is made up of many dots of light called pixels that combine together to form an image. The more densely packed the pixels the higher the quality of the screen image. The iPad Mini has 163 pixels per inch (ppi) while the iPad 2 has 148 ppi. This means the iPad Mini's screen should appear sharper than the iPad 2.

The matching screen resolution to the previous iPad's mean the iPad Mini should be able to run any iPad apps that are not made specifically for the iPad 3 without any problems.

Features

As you would expect the iPad Mini runs Apple's latest iOS 6 operating system that was released along with the iPhone 5. For more details on the features of iOS 6 please see my previous blog (http://www.expressandstar.com/lifestyle/blogs/technology-blog/2012/10/05/two-weeks-with-ios-6/). You can also find my blog on the iPhone 5 here (http://www.expressandstar.com/lifestyle/blogs/technology-blog/2012/09/21/iphone-5-all-you-need-to-know/).

In terms on connectivity the iPad Mini has Wi-Fi, Cellular data, headphone jack, Bluetooth 4.0 and Apple's new Lightning connector. This means you may need to buy new cables and docks if you do not have an iPhone 5. However, the smaller Lightning connector does mean that for the first time an iPad will include stereo speakers.

Apple has also managed to give the iPad Mini an impressive 10 hours' worth of battery life, a rear 5 megapixel camera that can record 1080p video and a 720p video front camera for FaceTime video calling.

Prices start at £269 for 16GB version. I anticipate that Apple will be hoping that the iPad Mini has the same effect on iPad sales as the iPod Mini/Nano did years ago for the iPod. When the iPod Mini was released it sold very well due to it being smaller than the iPod and cheap enough to entice people to buy.

This led to significant increases in iPod sales and brought new people to Apple products. It looks like Apple is trying the same strategy with the iPad Mini.

You can see Apple's latest keynote on the iPad Mini here (http://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2012/).

• Dr Thomas Hartley is Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Wolverhampton.