TNI Bureau: So far it is not official, but Apple Inc is likely to unveil the iPad Mini in an Apple-hosted invitation-only event on October 23. The upcoming device is expected also sport a screen between 7 to 8 inches.

Since a while, it was widely speculated that Apple is on its way to come with some smaller and less expensive version of its popular iPad to take on the cheaper competing devices of the rivals such as Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc. Microsoft Corp has also planned to unveil Windows 8 and its new Surface tablet on Oct. 26.

However, if this expectation will come true, this venture may hurt its margins but would prevent its rivals from dominating an increasingly important computing segment as per analysts. They further speculate the starting price of the device could be about $299.

The Mini version of the Apple iPad will directly compete with e-commerce giant Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD tablet and Google’s Nexus 7, both of which have 7-inch screens and are priced at $199.

The new device is expected to come with a 7.85-inch display with Apple’s new Lightning dock connector, front and rear cameras and an “ultra-thin” design.