iPaid too much

Rumors around the iPad mini are understandably reaching a fever pitch now that an announcement seems very likely for October 23, and a new one over the weekend claims to have a full breakdown of iPad mini unit pricing. While it seems unlikely that Apple would release pricing info to retail partners ahead of a new product launch, it isn’t entirely unprecedented.

Apple’s iPad mini announcement is set for early next week, and the big variable still remains price. Now, a couple of new reports that surfaced this weekend shed a little more light on what we might expect with pricing. KGI Securities analysts Ming-Chi Kuo has an early look at the likely bill-of-materials (BOM) for the iPad mini, and 9t05Mac reports on likely U.S.

On the Apple Q4 conference call, both CFO Peter Oppenheimer and CEO Tim Cook took a moment to defend the iPad’s pricing in response to a question about what they think about comments it’s too high.

With the world and his dog impatiently waiting for Android tablet makers to realise that pricing Android tablets at the same price as an iPad 2 is no way to win friends and influence non-iPad buyers, Apple is reportedly getting ready to strike back with cheaper pricing of its own.

Australia’s version of Walmart, Big W, has come out with iPad 2 pricing that’s between $11 and $51 cheaper than Apple’s own retail pricing, pushing Australian iPad 2 prices even closer to their US equivalents.

Apple finally seems to be ready to show off a new iPad mini to the world, according to invites it sent out to members of the media today.

Mobile advertising firm Velti has released its monthly report on advertising impressions across its network. The iPad is far and away the leader when it comes to the tablet market, and is gradually chipping away share from the iPhone in terms of overall dominance among mobile ads.

While fanboys and tech pundits are hyperventilating over Apple's expected iPad mini announcement, there are already plenty of tablet options out there to suit most people's needs. Here are seven of the best out there.

Apple says the the Wi-Fi version of the iPad will now arrive at the end of next month instead of its previously promised “late March” timeframe (oh, and we have leaked pricing).