Apple plans to debut a smaller, cheaper iPad by year-end, two people with knowledge of the plans told Bloomberg. The new product is expected to challenge new offerings on the tablet market from rivals Google and Microsoft. The new model will have a screen that's 7 inches to 8 inches diagonally, less than the current 9.7-inch version, and may be announced in October. It won't have the HD screen featured on the iPad 3 released in March, one of the people said. The new device is expected to have a price closer to Google's Nexus 7 tablet and Amazon's Kindle Fire, both of which have 7-inch screens and cost USD 199.
