Apple expected to unveil smaller iPad

A smaller iPad is expected to be revealed by Apple on Tuesday.

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 from Amazon.com Inc. and Google Inc.

Amazon's Kindle Fire starts at $159, and Google's Nexus 7 at $199. Meanwhile, Apple sells the iPad 2 for $399 and the 4-inch iPod Touch for $199. Company watchers are pegging the price of the smaller iPad somewhere in between.

Most of the guesses range from $249 to $299, but the blog Boy Genius Report said Monday that the price would be $329. That would make the iPad Mini twice the price of the cheapest Kindle Fire and leave plenty of room for other manufacturers to snap up value shoppers this holiday season. Boy Genius did not disclose its source and has had a mixed record in predicting details on unreleased Apple products.

Analysts such as Brian White of Topeka Capital Markets believe that Apple will also sell a step-up version of the iPad Mini, one with the ability to access 4G cellular networks for an additional monthly fee. That's a feature the cheaper, 7-inch tablets don't have.

Apple hasn't said anything about the device. Apple is holding the presentation at a theater in San Jose, Calif., starting at 1 p.m.

It comes a few days before Microsoft Corp. starts selling a new version of its Windows operating system, one designed to work well on both traditional computers and tablets.