It's been expected for a long time, and Apple has now formally announced it, revealing the scaled-down version of their popular iPad tablet at an event overnight, alongside another new revision for the standard-sized iPad. via Engadget:

Apple's iPad mini is the company's newest device, a 7.9-inch tablet that's designed to go toe-to-toe with Google's Nexus 7. For now, it'll sit alongside the iPad 2 and fourth-generation iPad, and as it packs the same 1,024 x 768 display as the second-generation slate, apps will carry across without any resizing. While Phil Schiller didn't mention Google or the Nexus 7 by name, the rival slate (and Google's app library) was compared to the newest iOS device. On stage, he claimed that the screen, which is .9-inch larger than the Nexus 7, gives the iPad mini 35 percent more display area than Google and ASUS' collaboration.

On the hardware size, the 7.2mm thick, .68 pounds device has been manufactured with an "all new" process that gives it the same anodized edges as you'll find on the iPhone 5. If you were hoping for equal specifications to the big-daddy iPad, you may be mildly disappointed. While it will pack a 5-megapixel camera and an LTE modem (if you opt to buy a cellular model), it's running the last-generation A5 CPU. However, the slower internals and less potent display may account for how the company has been able to squeeze out a claimed 10 hours of use despite the constrained space for a battery.

Unlike the previous iPad revision, Apple has revealed that this time around there will be two different spec cellular models for each device with modems that support different LTE frequencies. The good news is that in addition to the 700Mhz LTE model compatible with major US carriers, the 1800MHz LTE model compatible with Sprint and Verizon in the US will be the one sold in Australia, and will support Telstra's 4G network (and Optus' eventual 4G network).

However, due to the manufacturing differences, the WiFi + Cellular model will not be available in Australia until "a couple of weeks" after the Wi-Fi model. It also obviously won't support 4G International roaming on the US 700MHz networks, however a list of the countries and carriers it will be compatible with can be found here.

Australian pricing ranges from AU$369, up to AU$729 depending whether you want 16,32, or 64GB of storage, and Wi-Fi-only or Wi-Fi + Cellular.

As for the fourth-gen iPad (also via Engadget):

It's essentially a hardware refresh for Apple's 3rd gen slate, as it packs new A6X silicon with quad-core graphics that the company claims provides double the performance of the old A5X chip. The new iPad also gets dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, expanded LTE compatibility (including Sprint and KDDI), a 720p FaceTime camera on the front and the new image processor first seen in the iPhone 5. Of course, it also gets the reversible Lightning port that debuted on on the iPhone, and will be available in both black and white.

More details on both can be found over on apple.com.au.

Update: This article originally incorrectly stated that the new iPads were still incompatible with Australian 4G networks, however that is reportedly not the case.