Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and iPad Mini – Coming Soon?

According to a post on tech blog AllThingsD, the much hyped iPad Mini from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will be unveiled on October 23, before Microsoft announces its latest offerings – the Windows 8 operating system and the new Surface tablet, three days later. Apple has not yet confirmed the info, although all sorts of theories about the iPad Mini have been doing the rounds before the launch of iPhone 5.

A recent report revealed that Apple has ordered components from suppliers in Asia for 10 million units of the iPad Mini in the last quarter, which is approximately double the order for the Kindle Fire tablets of Amazon during the same time period. Wall Street Journal believes that this large order clearly specifies that Apple is confident of the demand for iPad Mini to be huge. The Journal further adds that some Asian component suppliers have begun production of the7.85-inch tablet.

Meanwhile, Apple and Samsung are still locked in various lawsuits worldwide. But a US appeals court removed a sales ban on Google-branded Samsung smartphones, stating that the patent in question was not infringed due to lack of evidence of features being duplicated from the iPhone.

Judge Lucy Koh had imposed a restriction on sales of the Galaxy Nexus phone, as Apple proved that it had infringed patents regarding the iPhone's Siri virtual assistant software. This injunction was issued right before a jury gave the verdict in favor of Apple and ordered Samsung to pay more than a billion as damages.

But as far as the Nexus is concerned, the appeals court has stated that proofs should be presented about irreparable damage and also about the damage being relevant to the infringement. It is a loss for Apple to a certain extent, although this ruling is a small portion of the lengthy legal battle between Samsung and Apple.