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8 Things We Think Apple's iPad Mini Will Need To Be Truly Amazing
Amazon's Kindle Fire made the world believe there was a market for 7-inch tablets. And Google's Nexus 7 proved that even a tiny Android tablet can be really, really great.
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So it should be no surprise that Apple, the king of tablets, would want to take advantage of this budding market.
Rumors are swirling that the iPad maker is developing a mini version of its beloved tablet to compete directly with the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire.
We believe that the so-called iPad Mini is way more than a rumor. And when it debuts, it's going to
Here's why.
This is where Google really dropped the ball. The Nexus 7 is a Wi-Fi-only device, meaning it can't get a data connection from cellular networks.
The iPad Mini's small size would bring extreme portability, and not having to rely solely on Wifi would be killer.
Because of its smaller size, the iPad Mini would be perfect for reading books.
As it stands, Apple's own iBooks app is pretty decent, but we still prefer to use Amazon's Kindle App. The iPad Mini would be an excellent opportunity for Apple to focus on reading and introduce a revamped iBooks experience.
We'd also like to see the ability to rent and share books.
The only downfall to a smaller tablet is reduced space for browsing the web. The iPad Mini must optimize Safari for 7-inch tablets.
Safari must be fast and take full advantage of iCloud Tabs making it easier to pick up browsing where the user left off.
This one should be a given.
The battery has to last at least 7 hours on the iPad Mini in order to compete. Longer that 7 hours would be ideal, but we realize that a smaller size means less internal space to work with.
We have our iPhone for when we want to take photos, so it's not exactly necessary for the iPad Mini to be a point-and-shoot replacement.
But we do believe that having at least 1080p video recording capability would be killer. Imagine the concert videos.
With a smaller, cheaper tablet, there's a good chance Apple will only offer a few storage options to keep the cost down. (Most likely 8 GB or 16 GB)
That's fine for people who don't need a lot of storage, but we're hoping Apple decides to offer up to 64 GB of storage too.
The increased portability of the iPad Mini would allow Apple to poach gamers away from companies like Nintendo and Sony.
Consider this an excellent opportunity for Apple to revamp its Game Center and unlock the true potential of social gaming on the go.
It's been proven that people will skip the iPad because they think $500 is too much to pay for a tablet. So a sub-$300 price tag on the iPad Mini would easily help the tablet fly off the shelves.
Disclosure: Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is an investor in Business Insider.
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