Apple unveiled a new iPad Mini, a tablet that weighs less than a pound and has a 7.8-inch screen, significantly smaller than the original iPad. It is touted as offering the same functions and display as the iPad but with more portability.
The iPad Mini starts at $329 for a Wi-Fi-enabled tablet; a device with Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, useful for students without Internet at home, starts at $459. Regular iPads for K-12 schools run between $379 and $829.
Other tablet-makers have entered the schools market with cheaper devices. Amazon offers a 7-inch Kindle Fire 2 for $149 and recently announced a free tool for teachers and administrators to manage schoolwide Kindle devices. Barnes & Noble, spurred by a recent $300 million investment from Microsoft, offers a 16-gigabyte Nook Tablet for $249.
