Tablet war: Apple to launch new iPads
Apple
is expected to rev up its iPad line as the tablet market heats up with
competitiondevices powered by softwareGoogle and Microsoft.
Analysts
agree that iPads will star at an invitation-only event being held in
San Francisco on the cusp of the prime year-end holiday shopping season.
"Job
One for Apple is to get something out there on the large-size iPad that
gets people excited, then obviouslya specification focus, the Mini
needs to catch up with what everybody else has done," NPD analyst
Stephen Baker told AFP.
"There are a lot of
other things happening in that large-size tablet space and there is a
huge amount of choices in smaller devices."
Tablets
face mounting competitiontouch-screen notebook computers powered by
Microsoft Windows software and priced between $350 and $500, according
to the analyst.
"Apple will... be number one in
large-size tablets probably for a long time, but the definition of
competition will change," Baker said.
Apple is
also under pressure to adapt to the popularity of premium tablets with
high-quality screens in the seven- to eight-inch (18- to 20-centimeter)
rangethe Mini competes.
Online retail titan
Amazon.com on Friday began shipping new seven-inch Kindle Fire HDX
tablets with boosted display quality and computing power at the starting
price of $229.
"We can't wait to get this tablet into our customers' hands," said Amazon Kindle vice president Peter Larsen.
Google's latest Nexus 7 tablet powered by its Android software has been a hot seller at a similarly tempting price.
Emailed
invitations to the Apple event revealed little other than the time and
place, and bore the message: "We still have a lot to cover."
A graphic in the shape of an iPad showed Apple's iconic logo under a shower of colorful leaves.
Unconfirmed
reports are that Apple will show off a new version of its full-size
iPad that will be thinner than its predecessor and boast improved camera
capabilities.
Scrutiny of Apple's supply chain
has industry trackers thinking the new iPad will get "narrower,
thinner, and lighter" and possibly be built with processors at least as
powerful as those used in the freshly-launched iPhone 5S, according to
Gartner analyst Van Baker.
An upgraded version of the iPad mini with an improved screen is also expected.
Gartner's
Baker will be watching whether new iPad models have 64-bit processors
as engines in a significant boost that would enable tablets to handle
more heavy weight programs and games.
"It has
the potential to make tablets much more compelling devices in terms of
content creation; making devices more sophisticated with more
horsepower-hungry applications," the analyst said.
"It will increase the likelihood that tablets will displace PCs (personal computers)."
Analysts
agreed that top-end, full-size iPads may get a fingerprint recognition
security feature that has been a hit in the iPhone 5S.
Such
upgrades would promise to entice buyers to pay a bit more for full-size
tabletsApple instead of choosing lower-priced Mini models, boding well
for the company's bottom line.
The iPad remains
the largest-selling tablet, according to surveys, but its market share
is being eroded by rivals using the Google Android operating system.
"Mobile
connectivity continues to grow and its impact is much broader than
business stories about which computer makers are selling the most
units," said Kristen Purcell, associate director for research at the Pew
Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.
"We
see mobile connectivity affecting everythingthe way people get news and
learn to the way they take care of their health and the way they share
their lives through social media."
Apple was also expected to discuss its computer operating system and its MacBook laptop line at the event.
The
company is coming off a wildly successful launch of two new iPhone
models last month. It estimates selling a record nine million iPhones in
the three days after launching two new versions of the smartphone.
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