At today's iPad 2 media event, solid details were revealed about the upcoming iOS 4.3 release.
Unsurprisingly, iOS 4.3 will make its debut on the same day that the iPad 2 is officially available for sale; March 11th.
What's interesting is that one notable Apple product in particular was left out of the iOS 4.3 goodness -- the CDMA based Verizon iPhone 4...
After months of speculations and rumors, Apple finally unveiled the iPad 2 today. Almost surprisingly, Steve Jobs was here to lead the presentation. As usual the event started with some big numbers: 100,000,000 iPhones in the world, 15,000,000 iPads sold, representing a 90% market share which generated $9.5 billion in revenue for Apple.
Apple's message today was pretty clear, the iPad is not a tablet, it's a post-PC device. An indeed it is.
Here is a quick summary of everything worth noting about the iPad 2:
Steve Jobs was here to present the event iPad 2 gets an A5 chip iPad 2 new design iPad 2 to come in black or white iPad 2 keeps the same price iPad 2 available on March 11 Apple give the iPad 2 a new cover iPad 2 gets 2 cameras iPad 2 promo videoApparently, you are not able to pre-order the iPad 2, which is kind of unusual. I sure hope Apple will let us do that prior to March 11 as I don't feel like standing in line for hours.
Here it is, the 6 minute presentation of the iPad 2 made by Apple.
As expected, the iPad 2 ill ship with 2 cameras, a front one and a rear one. The front one is at the top of the device, when you hold it vertically. It will allow to play with PhotoBooth which will be soon available for free for iPad, as well as FaceTime.
Here are some of the camera specs:
Back camera: Video recording, HD (720p) up to 30 frames per second with audio; still camera with 5x digital zoom Front camera: Video recording, VGA up to 30 frames per second with audio; VGA-quality still camera Tap to control exposure for video or stills Photo and video geotagging over Wi-FiJust like they did with the first iPad, Apple is now coming up with a new case/cover concept for the iPad 2. Steve says it's not a case, it's more of a cover. It's heard to tell exactly how it's going to look and feel but looking at pictures of, it looks like a nice way to protect your device.
A few magnets grasp and auto-align the cover on your iPad screen. It's like a flap that covers the front of the device. It automatically wakes the iPad when you open it, and puts it to sleep when it closes it.
Best of all, it comes with microfiber lining that cleans the screen for you. Brilliant!
10 different colors will be available: 5 in poly, 5 in leather. Poly will sell for $39 and leather covers will sell for $69.
That's quick. Steve Jobs just announced that the iPad 2 will be available in the US only on March 11. On March 25, it will be available in 26 other countries, maybe more.
Even though Apple managed to pack more features in a smaller iPad, they still kept the same pricing model as for the first iPad. Wifi models start at $499 and go as up to $829 for the 64GB 3G model.
There is still no white iPhone 4, but Steve assured us we would be able to get a white iPad 2 on day one.
That is indeed a dramatic change for the iPad. While it stills keeps the same screen size and general shape, the iPad went from 13.4mm to 8.8mm thin. Yes, it's even thinner than your iPhone 4!
Not only it is thinner, but it is also lighter as it went from 1.5 pound to 1.3 pound. Not a huge difference but it's still going be easier for you to handle.
Apple gave the iPad 2 a new chip: the A5. While the power consumption is the same as that of A4, the CPU is 2 times faster, with graphics 9 times faster than its predecessor.
What a great surprise to see Steve Jobs today on stage to present the iPad 2 to the world.
Apple events are legendary in the tech community. No other company receives the level of response and interest that Apple gets with their announcements.
This fact is probably due to the intense level of secrecy that Apple maintains around their new products. Rumors ran rampant about what Apple will do next, but no one ever really knows what's going to happen.
If you're interested in following today's Apple announcement as it happens, here's a list of the best places on the internet for live Apple coverage.