Apple unveils smaller iPad Mini at $329

The new iPad mini is shown next to a full sized model at an Apple event in 

San Jose, California October 23, 2012. -Reuters Photo 

San Jose, Calif., USA.
→ Apple unveiled the smaller iPad, the iPad mini, the 7.9-inch tablet computer has made its debut on Oct. 23, 2012, Tuesday morning in San Jose, California, USA.

"This is iPad mini," Apple's senior vice president for marketing said as he displayed the device at an Apple event in San Jose. The device is as thin as a pencil and weighs .68 pounds. The price starts at $329. Its touchscreen screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally compared to 9.7 inches on the original iPad.

"This isn't just a shrunken down iPad," he said. "It is an entirely new design". "It's as light as a pad of paper," said Apple's senior vice president  for marketing chief Phil Schiller.

Here's a video of the Apple Event in San Jose, Calif. courtesy of HonestTechGuys in Youtube.

The Wi-Fi model starts at $329 for 16 GB of storage while its cellular counterpart begins at $459.
The iPad mini will be available for pre-order on Friday. The Wi-Fi version will go on sale on Nov. 2, while cellular versions of the device will arrive two weeks later.

Rumors have swirled for months that Apple was designing a competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7, smaller and cheaper devices that appeal to on-the-go consumers who don't want to shell out for the pricey iPad.

Apple is looking to expand its share in a growing, highly competitive tablet market. The iPad mini stands to target price-sensitive users and the e-reader crowd.

"Given the global economic uncertainty, we think price-sensitive users could gravitate toward an iPad mini instead of making a PC purchase",  said JP Morgan's analyst Mark Moskowitz in a note to investors ahead of the media event.

Apple has sold more than 84 million iPads since its debut in April 2010.