Just a little over a year ago, Apple unveiled the much anticipated and once mythical tablet that promised to change mobile computing as we knew it. Since then, 15 million iPads have been sold. Earlier today at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, Apple CEO Steve Jobs returned from medical leave to introduce his company’s second generation iPad. “We’ve been working on this product for a while, and I didn’t want to miss today,” Jobs said during the unveiling. After taking a slight jab at competing tablets (Android products and Samsung especially) and to critics who initially contended that the iPad was “too expensive,” Steve Jobs walked the public through the evolution of post-PC products leading up to the iPad. “Many have said that this is the most successful consumer product ever launched,” Jobs boasted, “Over 90% market share. Our competitors were flummoxed.” He then proceeded to roll footage of what amounted ot the iPad’s 2010 highlight reel before he got down to business and gave the world what it wanted to see – a look at the new iPad. The iPad 2 largely meeting expectations for many sported many refreshed features, amongst the front-facing camera for FaceTime chats (which were demonstrated on stage) and a rear camera for video. Underscoring the new feature is a new sleeker, slimmer design. “It is an all new design,” Jobs said, although at a quick glance it looks remarkably similar to that which we’ve come to know from the first iPad. “And it’s dramatically faster,” referencing the new refreshed A5 chip, dual processor which will certainly make the tablet faster – upwards of 2 times faster on CPU performance and a whopping 9 times faster on graphics. “This will be the 1st dual core tablet to ship in volume.” Jobs continued to the speech by adding “Having built in all this stuff, one of the striking things about the iPad 2 is that’s dramatically thinner. 33% thinner.” It’s also lighter with the weight being down to 1.3 pounds, down from 1.5 pounds. Other notable features include a built-in gyroscope, same as in the iPhone and iPod Touch. There is an HDMI mirrored video output at 1080p Full HD as well. The cable will however end up costing you $39. What’s more is in addition to being available in both black and white (the white version will be available from day one this time around), Apple will also make models that work with both AT&T and Verizon. Through it all, Jobs says the iPad 2 will deliver the same 10-hour battery life (and a month of standby.) Best of all, their Pad 2 will be available for as low as $499, the same price at which the first gen iPad was introduced. There will be 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models, all with 3G options where the 3G versions will be $130 additional on each model. The price will remain exactly the same across the whole line. The iPad 2 begins shipping March 11th to the US. With regard to an international launch, we’re looking at March 25th to be the date for the iPad 2?s arrival in 26 additional countries including: Canada, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, and Spain. [Source: Apple] Authors:

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