Apple Announces iPad 2, masses foam at the mouth…
Early this morning, Steve Jobs donned his denim and turtle-neck to announce Apple’s second generation tablet, the iPad 2. On the outside, the iPad 2 looks like a thinner and svelter version of the 1st-gen iPad. The old iPad’s brushed aluminum square-edges have been smoothed-out this time around and the bezel has shrunk slightly. Apple is also giving the iPad 2 the classic black and white treatment we’ve seen on their previous generation devices. Things get more intresting on the inside with a new dual-core Apple A5 SOC, a front-facing VGA resolution camera, and a rear-facing HD camera. The iPad 2 also contains an new unknown graphics core with 9 times the performance of the 1st gen iPad’s PowerVR SGX 535. Early impressions from Engadget tout the new iPad’s speedy CPU and graphics, which make the iOS interface and apps even more responsive than on the original iPad, which isn’t known for its sluggishness either. Finally, Apple seems to be paying serious attention to accessories and adapters for the iPad as it debuted a clever foldable magnetic cover for the iPad and an HDMI output adapter that allows one to mirror the iPad 2’s screen on any HDMI capable display device. No USB adapters as of yet, but with an SD adapter already out, we’ll just have to wait and see. The iPad 2 will be available in stores March 11 with the 16GB WiFi-only model starting at $499 and the other models with 3G going up from there.
