Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL): iPad Mini Comes With All The Features, Except The Superior Screen

Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL)’s entry in the accelerating mobile tablet competition squeezes nearly 35% more screening space onto a lighter package than rival makers like Amazon and Google. However, it comes with an inferior resolution and a hefty price tag, according to influential reviewers.

The iPad mini starts at $329 whereas Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD are available at $199 each. According to the Wall Street Journal columnist, Walt Mosseberg, the iPad mini is easy to hold with one hand, which eliminates the shortcoming of the 10-inch iPad.

David Pogue, a columnist in New York Times agreed with Mossberg on this and offered kudos for stuffing most of its full-sized version’s features onto a smaller device.

However the resolution of 1024x768 in the iPad mini is a major drawback from the iPad’s much-talked-about Retina Display. The poor resolution underperformed the competitor Nexus and Kindle, as per both the reviewers.

Mossberg said that Apple opted to go with a poor display since the existing 150,000+ iPad applications could run unmodified in two resolutions. The higher level would have sucked too much power.

Mossberg wrote that the lack of true HD gives Fire HD and Nexus a benefit for video fans. His tests revealed that the videos seemed fine although they were not as great as they were on the standard iPad.

The standard iPad was released in 2010 and went on upend the personal computer industry, producing a raft of similar devices. The iPad mini marks the first foray of Apple into a smaller 7-inch arena that Amazon’s Kindle Fire now rules, signifying demand that exists for such a device.

Apple has made its boldest move in consumer hardware since Tim Cook took over the company. It hopes that the smaller tablet can beat back incursions onto its home turf of consumer electronics.