Apple Inc is expected to launch its much-hyped iPad Mini at an event in California on Tuesday. iPad Mini is expected to be unveiled at California Theatre, San Jose, on Oct 23. The presentation would start at 10:30 PM IST (10 AM PDT).  The price tag remains a big question mark as Apple prepares Tuesday to unveil what is expected to be a smaller iPad. Apple hasn't said anything about the device, but the veil of secrecy that the company throws over unreleased products has been a see-through affair this year. Most of the details of the iPhone 5, for instance, were known well in advance of its launch a month ago.

In the case of the "iPad Mini" (the real name is not known), tech bloggers and analysts expect a device with a screen measuring 7.85 inches on the diagonal, making it about half the size of the regular iPad. It would be slightly larger than the 7-inch tablets it's presumably designed to compete with, including Amazon.com Inc.'s Kindle Fire and Google Inc.'s Nexus 7.


Apple iPad mini Specifications :

- 7.9-inch display.
- 1024 x 768 resolution.
- Apple A5 processor.
- 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.
- 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera.
- Wi-Fi model.
- iOS 6 support.
- battery 10 hours.

The Kindle Fire starts at $159, and the Nexus 7 at $199. Meanwhile, Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399 and the 4-inch iPod Touch for $199. The iPad mini starts at $329 for the Wi-Fi-only version with 16GB capacity. Higher capacities and 4G LTE options are available. Prices for Wi-Fi-only versions are: $429 for 32GB, and $529 for 64GB. For the cellular versions, prices are $459, $559 and $659 for 16, 32 and 64GB, respectively. Pre-orders begin Oct. 26. Wi-Fi devices ship Nov. 2, and the cellular models will come about two weeks later.

Microsoft told Mashable that its Bing search engine will be the default on the Amazon Kindle Fire HD‘s web browser. Amazon also confirmed it. The deal between the two companies came together recently. Adam Sohn, general manager of communications and influencer marketing at Bing, said the “last bits” of the deal were finalized only today.

The site Ubergizmo first reported that Bing was the default browser on the Kindle Fire HD.  Amazon is Microsoft’s second major partner in the mobile arena. The first was RIM — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer paid a visit to BlackBerry World in spring 2011 to announce that Bing would power search and maps on BlackBerry phones going forward.

Amazon announced Wednesday it was launching Kindle in India, the world’s second most-populous country, as the e-reader continues its international expansion.  More than 1 million e-books are now available for download in Indian Rupees from the Amazon Kindle Store. Kindles are also available for purchase at Chroma retail stores across India for 6,999 INR or about $126 (for the entry-level model sold for $79 in the U.S.).

Customers can also purchase Kindles online through Amazon.com, which ships to India. Amazon is also launching the Kindle Direct Publishing platform to independent authors and publishers in India.