Whispers have been swelling that Apple plans to introduce a smaller iPad - an iPad mini with a 7.85-inch screen later this month. At the same time, rival Samsung is also rumored to be set to relese a new device, possibly a smaller version of its Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone.

The iPad mini is rumored to be announced sometime this month (October 10?), although we do not expect to see in retail before the end of the year, considering that Apple has released the iPhone 5 just a couple of weeks ago.

A 7.85-inch iPad would face the competition of the new entries and mainly from Amazon's Kindle HD tablets and Google Nexus 7.

The Wall Street Journal today reporedt that Apple's Asian component suppliers have already started mass production of the new tablet.

Samsung has also started sending out invitations for an event it's holding on October 11. The invitation says "something small will be really big", and "get ready for a little sensation", the mobiflip.de reports from Germany.An "S" is also printed as a background on the initation, allowing us to assume that it's going to be a Galaxy S that will get unveiled next week.

MobiFlip speculates that a Galaxy S III Mini could be that new device - an Android smartphone based on its bigger brother's shape in a much more compact package.