Apple has finally unveiled a slimmer, trimmer version of the wildly popular version of iPad, complete with a front facing camera for vedio chat and a souped-up processor.The new iPad 2 took the spotlight during a press event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, with none other than Apple CEO Steve Jobs - who is still on medical leave, taking the stage to unveil the much-anticipated follow-up to the best-selling original.
The "dramatically faster" iPad 2 boasts a dual-core A5 "system on a chip" processor under the hood, said Jobs, good for twice the CPU power and nine times the graphics performance of the original while maintaining the same 10-hour battery life.
Also new are, dual cameras, including a front-facing camera for VGA-quality video chat, while the rear camera will be good for 720p video capture.
As predicted, the 9.7-inch display on the iPad 2 has the same resolution as that on the original: 1,024 by 768, disappointing news for anyone hoping that the new iPad would boast an improved "retina"-style display.
Measuring 9.5 by 7.3 by 0.34 inches, the iPad 2 is slightly shorter and narrower than the original, with the listed weight of 1.33 pounds (or 1.35 for the 3G-enabled iPad 2) a bit lighter than the iPad 1.
As with the first iPad, the iPad 2 comes with Apple's proprietary 30-pin dock connector for syncing and charging, along with a 3.5mm headset jack. Missing in action, is a slot for SD (or microSD) memory cards.
A white version of the iPad will be available on "Day One," promised Jobs, with Apple probably hoping to avoid last year's debacle of the white iPhone that never quite arrived.
The iPad 2 retains the same price points as the original: $499 for the 16GB version, $599 for the 32GB model, and $699 for the 64GB model. The 3G-enabled versions will also come with the same $130 premium over the Wi-Fi-only models ($629 for the 3G-ready 16GB iPad 2, $729 for 32GB, and $829 for the 64GB version), and they'll be available for both AT&T and Verizon Wireless.
The shipping date is expected to be March 11 in the U.S., and March 25 in 26 additional countries.
Jobs also announced a new "Smart Cover" to go along with the iPad 2 - one with magnetic clasps that either wakes up the iPad or puts it to sleep depending on whether it's being attached or removed. The polyurethane version of the case will sell for $39, while a pricier leather one goes for $69.
Another new accessory is a $39 HDMI video-out cable that's capable of 1080p video mirroring. The cable works with all iPad apps, Jobs said, and it'll charge your iPad when plugged into a power source.
March 11 will also see the release of iOS version 4.3, with new features such as personal hotspot support for the iPhone 4, a speedier version of Safari, improvements to AirPlay media streaming, and FaceTime video chat, but the iOS 4.3 release on the 11th will only be for iPads, third- and fourth-generation iPod Touches, and the GSM version of the iPhone - meaning that owners of the iPhone for Verizon, which runs a CDMA network, will have to wait.
There will also be a new iPad version of Apple's iMovie video-editing app, which is slated to arrive March 11 for $4.99.
Before unveiling the new iPad, Jobs confirmed recent rumors that book publisher Random House, the last of the major iBooks holdouts, would be offering more than 17,000 volumes through Apple's e-book store.
Jobs also took a shot at Honeycomb, Google's new Android-based tablet OS, by bragging that only 100 Honeycomb-ready apps are currently available for download, versus about 65,000 apps for the iPad - perhaps not the fairest comparison, since the first Honeycomb-enabled tablet only landed in stores about a week ago.
The first iPad, originally unveiled last January before landing in stores the following April, was initially greeted with skepticism.
Unsurprisingly, the massive success of the iPad has drawn a slew of competitors, with sleek new tablets from the likes of Dell, HP, LG, Motorola, and Samsung either on sale now or waiting in the wings.
Most of the hottest new tablets, such as the Motorola Xoom and the upcoming LG G-Slate, are based on Google's tablet-oriented Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" OS, although we'll also see some non-Android tablets as HP's WebOS-based TouchPad and the BlackBerry PlayBook from RIM.
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