Apple is expected to reveal a number of new iPads today, Oct. 22, to take on rival tablet companies during the holiday shopping season.
The California-based company has revealed little about what new devices will be on hand at the invitation-only event scheduled to be held in San Francisco, but most media outlets seem to agree at least two new iPads will debut.
"Job One for Apple is to get something out there on the large-size iPad that gets people excited, then obviously from a specification focus, the Mini needs to catch up with what everybody else has done," NPD analyst Stephen Baker said to AFP. "There are a lot of other things happening in that large-size tablet space and there is a huge amount of choice in smaller devices."
Apple is predicted to sell 184 million tablets worldwide this year, which would represent a 53.4 percent increase compared to 2012, according to a report by industry tracker Garter.
iPads usually sell well, but people have been choosing smaller tablets, which cost less, than bigger ones, according to the same Garter report.
"Continuing on the trend we saw last year, we expect this holiday season to be all about smaller tablets as even the long-term holiday favorite, the smartphone, loses its appeal," said Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi, according to AFP.
Even though iPads are still the highest-selling tablets, devices that use Google Android have been catching up in the last 12 months.
Apple is also feeling pressured to release higher-quality devices in the seven-to-eight-inch range, which is where its iPad Mini competes, according to AFP.
Most media outlets feel a new Mini will debut at the press event in San Francisco, but that has not been confirmed by Apple as of press time.
Emailed invitations sent out by Apple included a tagline "We have a lot to cover" along with the time, date, and location of the event.
The new full-sized iPad is rumored to be thinner than its predecessor, despite being equipped with more powerful processors.
"It sounds jaded, but tablets are a maturing market," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman-Epps, according to AFP. "We expect few surprises in this category that Apple kickstarted only three years ago," she continued."
To watch the event live on your computer Apple will broadcast on its Safari Web browser, according to ibtimes.com. Mobile users will be able to live-stream the event through Safari on all Apple devices running iOS 4.2 or later.
Click here while using a Safari browser to view the event.
The event will begin at 1 p.m., according to Apple.
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