Apple’s iPad 2 announcement – New iPad gets A5, cameras, and

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Happy iPad 2 day! The Apple event is going to kick off in a few minutes (1PM Eastern time, 10am local) and we’ll be updating this page as soon as we hear what’s announced. We’ll be following live blogs to get the news (the event isn’t being streamed live), so be sure to check outPCMag, Engadget, MobileCrunch, Ars Technica, and MacWorld if you want the full firehose. We’ll try to compress the full 60+ minute event into something a bit more digestible.
We’ve already guessed about what the new iPad will be like, plus some very interesting photos leaked out this morning if you want to possibly get a sneak peek at the device. In case you are curious, the most prominent rumors are pointing towards the second iPad getting front/rear cameras, a thinner body, and possibly a larger speaker. It’ll also probably get better performance, with a new (possibly dual-core) processor and more RAM. There are a lot of other rumors though, so we’ll have to see what, if any, pan out. And let’s not forget that a new ipad isn’t the only possibility today. Hopefully we’ll learn about updates to iOS, possibly iOS 5.
And the event has started! Steve Jobs is on stage.
The first topic today will be iBooks- over 100M books were sold since the app was released and now Random House is on board so expect to see that number grow in the future.
And now for the numbers: Apple has shipped 100M iPhones, paid $2B out to developers, and has 200M iTunes accounts. Things are good in the land of Apple.
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And now for the iPad–this “post PC” device killed it in 2010. It sold over 15M units from April to December and generated over $9B dollars for Apple. There are over 65,000 iPad-specific apps and the iPad has over 90% of the tablet market share. What about Honeycomb? It has just 100 apps built for it. [Sorry for the lack of updates, apparently a video is being played now talking about the iPad and it's success in 2010.]
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And now… the iPad 2.
It has an all new design (33% thinner and cut down to 1.3lbs). It’s faster, thanks to the use of Apple’s A5 processor (which is 2x faster than before with 9x faster graphics). Front/rear cameras were added as was a gyroscope. And, yes, it comes in white… from day one. The iPad 2 will support both AT&T and Verizon networks. It’ll have the same battery life, which means still 10 hours.
The back camera is 720p at 30fps while the front is also 30 fps, but at VGA.
The pricing in unchanged. The iPad 2 will start at $499 (16GB) and go up to $829 (64GB + 3G). There will still be 6 price points, depending on whether your not you get 3G and then now much storage you want (16, 32, or 64GB). It will be available March 11th in the US.
There will be new accessories: like a $39 HDMI connection that can charge and do video out (1080p) at the same time. There is a new case design, it’s actually just a smart cover for the screen. How smart you ask? The iPad 2 will auto sleep and auto wake based on it’s presences and it’s held on with magnets. It’ll come in leather ($69) and polyurethane ($39).
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Next up, iOS talk with Scott Forstall.
The iPad 2 runs iOS 4.3. This will bring better Javascript performance, improvements to Safari speed, and iTunes home sharing. AirPlay is even better on 4.3. Apps will be able to use Airplay, and websites, audio, and video will be able to be sent to a TV. The iPad switch will work as either rotation lock or mute, it’s up to you! Also 4.3 adds a personal hotspot to the iPhone 4.
Photo Booth (like the one from OS X) is coming to iOS. You will be able to make all the crazy faces you can on your Mac, but you can do it using your finger for control. Of course now you can FaceTime from your iPad. You can call Macs, iPads, and iPhone 4s. You can tell it to work with either the front or rear camera, depending on if you want to show the caller your face or your surroundings. iOS 4.3 is coming March 11th as well.
Steve is back and it’s time for apps. iMovie for iPad is first. It will have advanced features like a precision editor, mutlitrack audio, Airplay-to-Apple TV, and HD video sharing. To spare all the details–iMovie for iOS looks like it’s seen some major improvements and is starting to approach the functionality and features of iMovie for Mac. The app will be available March 11th for $4.99.
Next is GarageBand for iPad. It will have 250+ loops, touch instruments, plugin support for guitar, compatibility with the Mac version, the ability to email AAC files and more. There are a lot of instruments (like a classic rock organ and sci-fi piano) and tons of features, like “smart instruments”. It supports up to 8 tracks. Also $4.99 on March 11th.
Apple thinks 2011 is the year of the iPad 2.
The information is available at Apple.com/ipad/ along with video of Apple notables talking about the iPad 2.
But will there be a “One more thing…”?
Apparently Steve Jobs is back. He reiterated that tablets are post-PC devices, not an extension of the PC market, and that while Apple is doing it right it seems (by implication) that a lot of companies aren’t.
 
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