iPad 2 Announced March 3, 2011

Apple has announced in a press event which featured Steve Jobs himself that a successor to the popular iPad, dubbed the iPad 2, will be coming in March.

The iPad was the first consumer tablet released by Apple which was based around the operating system which was used in the iPhone and iPod touch.  It was a larger iPhone with a faster processor.  You could get online access either through local WiFi or if you paid $130 extra you could buy a model which ran off AT&T’s cellular network for a monthly fee.

The problems from the first model all seemed to revolve around the fact that two people could not communicate through them, as you could with the less expensive iPhones, even if you had a cellular model.  This model seems to answer that.  Similar to the current iPhone 4 and iPod Touch designs, the iPad 2 will have two cameras (one on the front and one on the rear) which can be used for taking pictures or capturing video in 720p.  The cameras will also fully support Apple’s Facetime client, which allows for full duplex voice and video chat between iPhones, 4th Generation iPod Touch, and camera equipped Mac computers.

The iPad retains the same screen size and resolution as the previous model, boasting a resolution of 1024×768 (slighly higher than an iPhone 4’s screen resolution).  The new iPad 2 processor is dual core, promising faster processing speeds, and Apple promises this will not impact battery life.

The iPad 2 will release at the same price point and storage capaity options as the current iPad, which are expected to be phased out entirely in retail.   The operating system that powers it, iOS 4.3, will be made avalible for current iPads, 3rd and 4th generation iPod Touch, iPhone 3GS and the GSM equipped iPhone 4. iOS 4.3 will bring WiFi tethering options to the iPhone 4.  It will be released March 11th, 2011.