Apple is believed to be launching a mini version of the iPad within weeks to fend off competition from Amazon and Google.

The tech giant is expected to introduce the iPad mini on October 17th – just a week before arch rival Amazon launches its Fire range of tablets in the UK.
The announcement will see Apple go head to head with Amazon, Google and Barnes and Noble, which last week announced its own Nook tablets.

The iPad Mini, a shrunken version of Apple’s market-changing tablet, is expected to launch on October 17, with the device available in shops on November 2.

The launch date was reported by Fortune magazine, which cites Apple investors hearing the date from ‘multiple sources’.

The device is believed to have similar hardware to last year’s iPad 2, but reduced to a pocket-friendly seven or eight-inch form.

Fortune reports that Apple will send out invites for the launch on October 10, gathering tech journalists and stakeholders together to unveil the device.

If Apple follows previous form, the event will be held in San Francisco, with a simultaneous launch on London.

Images purporting to show the iPad Mini suggest a device measuring 7.85inches, with an aluminium back-cover similar to the most recent iPad.

It is likely to sport a rear-facing camera and come with Apple’s newest ‘lightning’ connector, a controversial re-design which made previous accessories and chargers obsolete without an adapter.

If Apple follows its usual design styles, it is likely to come in white and black versions, with a choice of WiFi only, or a 3G option. However this unconfirmed.

The device, while still likely to garner a premium price-tag, will help Apple compete with the burgeoning smaller tablet market.

The 7-inch Google Nexus tablet sells for £159 for the cheapest version, while Amazon is also producing a budget tablet range.

Steve Jobs was unconvinced that a smaller tablet would be a success, seeing it as a poor compromise between a tablet and a phone.

However Apple appears to have had a change of heart, particularly now that the tablet market has now matured.

One issue Apple might face by launching a Mini is a fragmentation in its core product lines.

Until the release of the iPhone 5, Apple’s two product lines had kept the same screen resolution, meaning apps did not need redesigning for different devices, a problem that plagues the competing Android platform.

But with the increased screen size of the iPhone 5, some apps now have a black border, at least until the developers update their apps, and this problem may now afflict Apple’s tablets, depending on the final size of the Mini.

However this is unlikely to cause much of a worry to either developers or customers, as most apps will be updated quickly and developers still only have a small number of devices to consider, unlike Android which has hundreds of combinations of models, screen sizes and software versions.

Apple does not speak publicly on future devices, so the launch will not be confirmed until a minimalist white envelope arrives to the media, inviting them to meet the newest member of the Apple family.