HispanicBusiness

Apple issued media invitations Tuesday for an event next week where it is widely expected to announce the launch of the iPad mini - a new tablet that will deepen the fight with rivals Google and Microsoft.

The invitation, written in Apple's usual cryptic style, simply said, "We've got a little more to show you." The event will take place on Tuesday in a theatre in San Jose, California.

The press event comes just days before Microsoft is set to release its Surface tablets, which are widely regarded as having the potential to challenge the dominance of the standard iPad.

The Surface will start at 499 dollars, the same price as the base version of the iPad, which features just half the memory and a slightly smaller screen than the Surface.

The iPad mini will compete mainly with Google's Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire, both of which have 7-inch screens and cost 199 dollars.

At the event Apple is also expected to debut a smaller MacBook Pro with Retina display (a 13-inch model to join the 15-inch model) as well as a line of redesigned iMacs.