( 4UMF NEWS ) Mini iPad Coming Soon:

For Apple fans, it looks like it’s time to get (mini) excited.

Apple’s suppliers have started final production on the so-called “iPad Mini” for an unveiling some time this month, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

As previously rumored, the WSJ says that the smaller iPad — which the Internet has taken to referring to as the “iPad Mini” for shorthand — will be cheaper than the $499 iPad, in order to combat the likes of Google’s $199 Nexus 7 and the new $199 Kindle Fire HD. Previous predictions have put it in the $250-$350 range.

The Journal also reiterates the previous rumors that the screen on the iPad Mini will measure 7.85-inches diagonally and will be of a lower resolution than the Retina display on the new iPad.

The Wall Street Journal isn’t the first to report that the iPad Mini had begun mass production. The hit-or-miss Japanese Apple blog Macotakara claimed the same in an article published on Tuesday. The WSJ, however, has close ties to Apple (It won a coveted sit-down with CEO Tim Cook following the unveiling of OS X Mountain Lion, remember), and its reports have often offered reliable glimpses at future Apple products.

Backing up this most recent report, the WSJ-affiliated blog AllThingsD had previously “confirmed” that an iPad Mini would debut at a press event in October, so that it would not have to share the stage with the iPhone 5 at Apple’s September event. The author of that piece, John Paczkowski, is also read as an accurate predictor of Apple product releases.
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