The Apple iPad rumours are set to start all over again. Sure, Apple has now released its iPad but Digitimes is reporting that the company is already working on a smaller version. Citing talks with upstream component sources, Digitimes Research senior analyst Mingchi Kuo suggests that Apple is looking at a model with a 5 to 7-inch display. The smaller iPad (the iPad nano perhaps?) will be marketed at high-portability mobile users and those focused more on reading and browsing and less on text input activities.
Kuo expects a release date as early as Q1 2011.
Digitimes also expects that the HP slate will launch in the middle of 2010 but will not provide much competition to the iPad primarily due to its more power-hungry Intel processor.