As expected, Apple unveiled its new iPad Mini, the smaller version of its iPad tablet computer, on Tuesday to further marginalize its competitors in the tablet market.

A visitor tries out the new iPad mini during an Apple special event in San Jose, California, the Untied States, Oct. 23, 2012. [Photo: Xinhua]

Compared to the 9.7-inch iPad, the 7.2-mm thin iPad mini features a 7.9-inch screen and weighs 0.68 pound. Equipped with front-facing and back cameras, it has the same number of pixels as the original iPad and iPad 2 and can deliver up to 10 hours of battery life. The new tablet also has HD Facetime, Apple's video calling software application and some models support the fast LTE wireless network.

Speaking at a press event held in San Jose in the U.S. state of California, Apple executives noted that the iPad mini is the "concentration not the reduction" of the full-sized iPad and is easy to use with one hand.

The company added that the new product is free of some major toxic chemicals and recyclable.

The 16 GB Wi-Fi-only model of the iPad mini is priced at US$329. Preorder will start on Oct. 26 and the Wi-Fi-only version will hit store shelves on Nov. 2, with models that have both Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity scheduled to ship a couple of weeks later.

Also on Tuesday, Apple introduced the fourth generation of its full-sized iPad, which doubles the CPU and graphic performance than the previous models while maintains 10-hour battery life.

The new 9.7-inch iPad features A6X chip, LTE network support, HD Facetime and the new Lightning connector for Apple devices.

According to Apple's chief executive officer Tim Cook, the company has sold over 100 million iPads since it debuted the device two and a half years ago.