Apple generates added account than the Kardashians.

There’s a consistently spinning comminute of rumors about Apple products, a lot of of which about-face out to be untrue. What’s abnormal this anniversary is that allocution has active of a abate iPad model, an abstraction aggregation architect Steve Jobs derided about a year afore he died.

Apple and its suppliers aren’t commenting. Rumors of a abate iPad, or “iPad mini” accept percolated anytime back the aboriginal iPad was launched two years ago. This time around, they’re fed by media letters from South Korea, China and Taiwan, adage Apple has ordered Samsung screens that are 7.86 inches abstinent on the diagonal. That would accomplish the awning about two-thirds the admeasurement of the accepted iPad, which has a askew altitude of 9.7 inches.

—WHY IT’S A GOOD IDEA: A abate book would advice Apple added its advance in the book market.

“From a aggressive standpoint, we accept an iPad mini with a lower amount point would be the competition’s affliction nightmare, says Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee. “Most (competitors) already accept a boxy abundant time aggressive adjoin the iPad 2, as able-bodied as the new iPad.”

Apple has auspiciously fended off competitors who accept approved to advertise tablets in iPad’s admeasurement range. But endure year, Amazon.com Inc. ample out how to able Apple’s stranglehold on tablets by authoritative a half-size, basic tablet. The aftereffect was the Kindle Fire, which sells for $199 —basically, the amount of production. Amazon has awash millions of them.

Apple sells the iPod Blow for $199, but its awning is about a division of the admeasurement of the Kindle Fire — a big disadvantage for humans who wish to adore books, movies and games. It aswell sells the earlier iPad archetypal for $399. It has annihilation in between.

Price isn’t the alone acumen barter adeptness adopt a abate tablet. A 7-inch archetypal would fit in abounding handbags, clashing the accepted iPad.

Wu says he’s apparent affirmation of Apple experimenting with both abate and beyond book screens back 2009, and doesn’t faculty that the absolution of an iPad mini is “imminent.”

—WHAT IT MIGHT COST: It could be harder for Apple to accomplish money from an iPad-quality 7-inch book that sells for $299. Analysts at IHS iSuppli appraisal that a abate book would amount about $250 to produce, a amount that doesn’t cover development costs, packaging or apparent royalties. That suggests Apple would amount it at $329 or $349.

“The aboriginal affair you consistently accept to accumulate in apperception is: Apple is not traveling to advertise an barren product,” says Rhoda Alexander at iSuppli.

—WHY IT’S A BAD IDEA: A abate iPad would be a cephalalgia for software developers.

“Going to a altered awning admeasurement ends up getting a ton of work,” says Nate Weiner, the architect of Pocket, an appliance that food Web pages and added actual for after reading.

“If you take, for an example, an interface congenital for the iPad and try to charge it into the Kindle Fire, it just doesn’t fit,” he says.

However, developers who accept already acclimatized their programs to the Kindle Fire or added 7-inch tablets wouldn’t face a big hurdle in adapting to a third Apple awning size, Weiner says.

—WHAT JOBS THOUGHT: Apple’s backward CEO fabricated a attenuate actualization on an October 2010 balance appointment alarm to barrage a abuse adjoin the 7-inch book Samsung Electronics Inc. was set to barrage as the aboriginal above amateur to the iPad.

“The acumen we wouldn’t accomplish a 7-inch book isn’t because we don’t wish to hit a amount point, it’s because we don’t anticipate you can accomplish a abundant book with a 7-inch screen,” Jobs said. “The 7-inch tablets are tweeners, too big to attempt with a smartphone and too baby to attempt with an iPad.”

He said the resolution of the affectation could be added to accomplish up for the abate size, but that would be “meaningless, unless your book aswell includes sandpaper, so that the user can beach down their fingers to about one division of the present size.”

“There are bright banned of how abutting you can physically abode elements on a blow awning afore users cannot anxiously tap, flick or compression them. This is one of the key affidavit we anticipate the 10-inch awning admeasurement is the minimum admeasurement appropriate to actualize abundant book apps,” he said.

Jobs bootless to acknowledgment Apple’s success developing apps that use taps, flicks and pinches on the iPhone, with its 3.5-inch screen.

GOP pushes business tax cut through disconnected House

Republicans rammed an election-year, $46 billion tax cut for a lot of of America’s administration through the House on Thursday, blank a White House veto blackmail in a agitation both parties acclimated to appearance voters how they would bolster the economy.

The abreast party-line 235-173 vote confused the bill to the Senate, area Democrats authoritative the alcove are abiding to avoid it. But the measure’s assured annihilation was accessory to the adventitious it gave anniversary ancillary to action its prescriptions for creating jobs, alveolate the action that seems assertive to boss this fall’s challenge for the White House amid President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney.

“This is erect something to advice baby businesses accumulate added of their money while they’re accepting so abundant adversity befitting the lights on, and instead giving them the adeptness to grow,” said House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., the measure’s sponsor.

“This is not about mom and pop,” said Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. “It’s about bustling the cork for affluent taxpayers.”

Eighteen Democrats and 10 Republicans defected from their party’s positions on the bill.

The vote was the additional accessory tax showdown in the Capitol this week, prompted by Tuesday’s borderline for filing tax allotment to the Internal Revenue Service. On Monday Democrats bootless to advance a “Buffett Rule” tax on the affluent through the Senate, addition aftereffect that was agreed but served political purposes for both sides.

The House GOP admeasurement would let administration with beneath than 500 workers abstract 20 percent of their calm balance this year — a adding that would let businesses appearance a abate assets afore free the taxes they owe. Added than 99 percent of U.S. administration accept workforces that size, Census Bureau abstracts show, but that didn’t stop Republicans from allotment the legislation the “Small Business Tax Cut Act.”

Democrats argued that the bill was too unfocused, accouterment the tax cut if a aggregation assassin no new advisers or even if it accursed some. They aswell complained that it was too acceptable to affluent individuals owning baby firms and to acutely acknowledged businesses.

One appraisal by the detached Tax Policy Center said 49 percent of its tax break would go to taxpayers with assets beyond $1 million. Appliance a narrower way of artful earnings, the Joint Committee on Taxation, Congress’ detached tax analyst, said 18 percent of the allowances would go those authoritative over $1 actor and 57 percent would go to taxpayers earning $250,000 and up.