Apple today invited select members of the media to a special event on Tuesday, October 23 at 10 a.m. PT at the California Theatre in San Jose, California

Apple is widely expected to unveil a new, smaller iPad at next week's event. The new device is expected to have a 7.85-inch screen, compared with the existing iPad's 10-inch display

A smaller iPad would allow Apple to take on rivals Google and Amazon. Google's 7-inch Android tablet, the Nexus 7, was launched in July, while Amazon is about to launch a new version of its Kindle Fire tablet.

Leaks from retailers suggest that the entry-level iPad Mini will be priced between £200 and £249, making it slightly more expensive than the competition.It's unclear is if the new iPad mini will be Wi-Fi only or if it will include LTE connectivity like its big brother.

While leaked pictures of components have appeared online purporting to show the new device, it's name is still unknown. It is most commonly referred to as the iPad Mini but other observers have suggested iPad Nano and iPad Air as potential names

A raft of rumors suggest that Apple could announce several other pieces of new hardware at the event, including:

13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display -- Codenamed "D1" it inherits the thinner and lighter enclosure of the 15-inch Retina MBP that was released in June 2012.

Ivy Bridge Mac mini -- Including Ivy Bridge, USB 3.0 in two standard configurations and a third model with OS X Server.

Updated 10-inch iPad -- A "slight tweak" with Apple's new Lightning connector and 4G/LTE in the UK.

Refreshed iMacs -- Code names "D7" and "D8" could be updated 21-inch and 27-inch iMac models.