iPads back to back.
Today at 10:00 am PST, Apple unveiled the iPad Mini (yes, that’s what they’re calling it).
Once again, Apple failed to send me a press invitation.
Earth to Cupertino – Chukumba’s audience really needs him to be there for a firsthand assessment.
Don’t you know that there are at least six people who rely on these assessments before making purchase decisions?
But, as the bigger person, I won’t hold it against them, and still give you the goods.
We huddled around an iPad 2 in the office to watch the announcement.
Ironic huh? Watching the announcement for the Mini on a 2.
I digress.
Anyway, after going over all of the things they’ve done to improve the current iPad, they flipped an image of the iPad to its back, where stood the new iPad Mini.
It was a thing to behold.
For one, the iPad Mini is dwarfed by the current version.
Indeed, during the presentation, a real iPad Mini was introduced, and it fit in the Tim Cook’s one hand.
My first impression was that it looked like the Galaxy Note.
That can’t be good.
Knee jerk reactions aside, there were a host of features they called out.
Its small. 7.9 inches on the diagonal.
Its thin. About the width of a pencil.
Its as light. They compared it to a pad of paper.
And contrary to my assessment last week, they gave us everything we’ve come to know and love about the iPad in the Mini.
We’ve got both cameras.
Apple even gave us some new shit.
Can you say faster wifi?
All-in-all, it looks like the Mini will be a real coup for Apple.
With the $329 for the wifi only 16Gb version, it’s an easy entry point.
And certainly something to keep folks from flocking to the Kindle Fire HD, the Google Nexus or the Samsung Galaxy Note.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to get one.
And once I have it, I’ll give you a real assessment.
Not me talking about what they talked about.
So bear with me, while I wait for Apple to send me a version to test.
Don’t hold your breath.
Stephen Chukumba 