Apple's New iPad 2 Release Date Announcement: News on Specs, Features, and Pricing

New iPad 2 is Faster, with Better Graphics, Front, and Rear Cameras, Dual-Core A5 Processer Available March, 11

 

Courtesy of Apple

The new iPad 2 was announced on Wednesday sporting a fast A5 chip with twice the performance of the A4 chip in last-generation's iPad released in 2010. The new Tablet is also more svelte, its now slimmer at 8.8mm vs the 13.4mm of the old model and has lost some weight, coming in at just 1.3 pounds, vs 1.5 pounds for the last iPad, so you'll be carrying less, but gaining so much more functionality.

The shiny new device will ship in America on March 11 for both AT&T, and Verizon. And will ship in the following countries on March 25:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK

Pricing will start at: $499 - 16 gig Wifi, $599 – 32 gig Wifi, and $699 - 64 gig Wifi. As well as $629 – 16 gig Wifi/3G, $729 – 322 gig Wifi/3G, and $829 – 64 gig Wifi/3G.

The all-new graphics chip offers 9 times the power of the former chip, making for much better gameplay, and snappier Apps. Specs at a glance:

• Colors - Black or White
  
• Front camera - video, VGA at 30 fps. and rear camera - HD 720p at 30 fps
  
• Battery life of 10 hours, with 1 month on standby
  
• HDMI out (with $39.00 cable) HDMI video mirroring to an HDTV (with optional adapter)
  
• iOS 4.3
  
• Personal Hotspot (only for iPhone 4 users) share your 3G connection via Wifi
  
• Can directly upload videos to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, or CNN iReport
  
• The new iPad 2 can stream 9 live feeds simultaneously via PhotoBooth.
  

Apple also offers a new Smart Cover which wakes your iPad 2 when you open it, and puts it to sleep when you close it. The new cover uses magnets to auto-align it perfectly on your new iPad 2. Smart Covers are available in leather or polyurethane – ”the stuff space suits are made of,” in 5 colors with the polyurethane covers at $39 each, while the leather covers are $69 each.

The new iPad 2 represents a huge leap over the original iPad, with much better features, specs, and iPad 2 accessories than the former, and pricing that can't be beat. With this announcement, Apple annihilates the competition, and makes iPad 2 the tablet to beat. Will you be upgrading to the new iPad 2? do you think it's the best tablet of 2011? leave your response in the comments section below.