What's Important in the Financial World (10/17/2012)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) apparently is about to have another in a series of very public product announcements that stretch back over all of the years when Steve Jobs ran the company. As the number of announcements has increased, their impact has slipped. Apple management will show up for the most modest product releases. The latest new device from Apple will be a smaller iPad, something to compete with the Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) Kindle apparently. The Daily Titan reports:

Apple has all but confirmed the existence of the iPad Mini, with an event announced to take place Oct. 23 in Silicon Valley.

The current rumors pin the tablet to be between seven and eight inches in screen size, with the resolution expected to fall short of the "retina display" caliber found in the current 10-inch iPad.

Observers in the tech community also predict that the price will fall in the $300 range to compete with the bestselling seven-inch tablets from Amazon and Google.

Douglas A. McIntyre