Steve Jobs may have famously hated the idea of trimming the iPad, but if all the hype and rumors are to be believed, the existence of the "iPad Mini" at this point is a foregone conclusion. Tuesday Oct. 16 Apple sent out press invites to a mysterious event Oct. 23, likely to unveil its new smaller iPad, and if a report today is accurate the company will release the iPad Mini on Nov. 2 in the U.S. and U.K.

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"Apple will start selling the new iPad Mini on Friday the 2nd of November, the device will be available in the US and UK on this date, possibly some other countries as well," Geeky Gadgets wrote. "The iPad Mini will go up for pre-order on the same week it is announced, possibly Friday the 26th of October, although our source was not 100 percent sure this would be the exact pre-order date."

Apple founder Jobs thought that a 7-inch iPad would be "dead on arrival," but if all these whispers from insiders are any indication, it looks like Apple clearly disagrees.

Google has had tremendous success with its 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet. Amazon has surprised many with the impeccable reading apps and unique features on its 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, and Kindle Fire. Barnes & Noble even got in the game with its own Nook HD.

The largest tech company in the world, it's only natural Apple wants a piece of every new device market.

Google, too, seems to be anticipating the iPad Mini's release. The company is rumored to release a 32GB Nexus 7 before the holiday shopping season. An unnamed source told Droid-Life that resellers are expecting to receive shipments of a 32GB Nexus 7 "sometime around" Oct. 24, although the source said no official date has been confirmed. If the release date is to be believed, it could set up a direct 7-inch tablet retail war with Apple.

Leaked photos show off bigger battery

Parts firm ETrade Supply posted several photos of what it purports is a legitimate display from Apple's forthcoming iPad Mini set for introduction at next Tuesday's media event. The display is said to be of the same 4:3 aspect ratio of the full-size iPad and measures 162 mm x 124 mm.

See leaked photos here 

Text on the back of the display suggests that the part was manufactured by LG Display, and text on the ribbon cable extending from the display is also consistent with labeling on authentic Apple parts.

ETrade Supply has also posted several photos of an iPad mini battery, which appears to be identical to the part shared by MacRumors earlier this week with the exception of the Apple part number.

As Yahoo News notes, the photos MacRumors released suggest the iPad mini will have a 16.7Whr battery that runs at 3.72 volts - three times the size of the iPhone 5's battery. If the battery is authentic, the iPad mini's battery will fit perfectly between the iPhone 5′s 5.45Whr and the new iPad's massive 42.5Whr battery. It's also just slightly under the iPad 2′s 25Whr battery.

According to MobileGeeks, prices for the iPad Mini will start at 249 euros ($322) for a Wi-Fi-only 8GB iPad Mini, with other memory configurations of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB also available. The high-end 64GB cellular version is listed at about $650, possibly because it has 4G LTE capability.

While we always caution putting too much faith in leaked photos or specs of products until they're confirmed by the company making the device, MobileGeeks is a fairly reliable source for this sort of information. Most recently the site leaked a report that confirmed the eixstence of Samsung's Galaxy SIII Mini smartphone ahead of its debut in Frankfurt, Germany.

Apple's rumored iPad Mini will cannibalize as many as 1 million iPad 3 sales during the fourth quarter, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster.

Munster predicts that 20 percent of the devices sold will take the place of one full-sized iPad. Granted, that's not exactly bad news for Apple. Every iPad Mini sold is one Kindle Fire HD or one 32GB Nexus 7 that's still collecting dust on the shelves.

Apple itself doesn't seem to mind the idea of the iPad Mini eating into sales of its other devices. CEO Tim Cook said as much during a 2011 conference call when asked if the iPad was cutting into Mac sales.

"Yes, I think there is some cannibalization, but I also think there is a halo effect," said Cook, explaining that some of those users will later decide to buy a Mac. "If this is cannibalization, it feels pretty good," Cook added.

Munster also seems to believe that despite the cannibalization, the iPad Mini will boost Apple's overall tablet sales.

Apple may also be planning to reveal a smaller MacBook computer at its Oct. 23 event. According to the Los Angeles Times, Apple could unveil a new 13-inch MacBook Pro laptop with Retina display, a new version of the Mac mini computer, and an updated iMac desktop. 

iPad Mini specs

7.8 inch screen with 1,024 x 768 resolution. The resolution will probably not be retina display, but it is possible it would have the same ppi as found on the iPad 2. The tablet would be able to handle all the apps. The design will stick to the same aesthetics of the iPhone 5 with an anodized aluminum back plate rather than a plastic build.

It will have two cameras, one front facing, for FaceTime or other video chat applications, and another, higher resolution rear-facing camera on the back. Sports a lightning port connector, like the iPhone 5. Likely an A6 processor, although, some sites are suggesting it may be an A5 like the iPad 2.