Apple has reportedly sent out press invitations for an event at San Jose on 23rd October. Speculation is rife that the company will unveil their much-awaited 7.85" tablet — the iPad mini — at the occasion. The press invites say "We've got a little more to show you", with the same palette effect they used in 2010 for the event where they launched the original iPad. (There had been a rumour that the device could launch as early as today.) While we're at it, we advise you to take this as a rumour as well, but the evidence seems compelling.

While we're lean on details about the upcoming device, rumours go that the tablet has pixel dimensions of 1024x768 — half of that on the new iPad. Recent leaked screen grabs from a German retailer show European pricing details, and also that it will be available in 8 GB, 16, GB, 32 GB, and 64 GB, with Wi-Fi only as well as Wi-Fi + cellular (deemed 4G) connectivity.

It is interesting that this comes just a little after Microsoft announced the pricing of its Surface tablet, which is poised to compete with the iPad. The iPad mini is likely to bridge the gap between the iPad and the iPhone, with a screen size that falls in between the two popular iDevices. However, we'll need to wait for (at least) a week to see whether Apple projects it as a poor man's iPad, or whether it will actually be priced higher.

TAGS: Tablets, iOS, Apple, iPad, Jayesh