Apple officially unveils the 'new iPad'

Apple does have the rumor mills work overtime, and the wait for its next generation of iPad – the new iPad (or the new iPad3/iPad HD) was no different. Yes, the Cupertino-based company has officially launched its next and the third version of the iPad. Cook began talking about the post PC devices and how iPad has successfully created a separate device category, altogether, before he began pitching in “the new iPad” that weighs 1.4lbs and is 9.4mm thin. We only wonder what's with the 'new name' Apple choose for its next generation iPad.

The next gen iPad as expected, employs a 9.7-inch Retina Display with high resolution of 2048 x 1536 and around 44 percent more colour saturation. It delivers four times the pixels, compared to the iPad 2, and the 3.1 million pixels in the Retina display are more than one million more pixels than an HDTV. It is fuelled by the powerful A5X dual core processor with quad-core graphics designed for swifter performance and responsive user experience to support the Retina display. It offers twice the performance, compared to A5 chip, while maintaining the power efficiency.

After camera-less original iPad, the company has shown room for improvements and gladly the iPad 3 features the 5 megapixel iSight camera with support for 1080p video recording. It comes with 5-element lens and IR filter. The new iPad will bring in voice dictation, giving everyone the taste of Siri. As expected, it also supports 4G LTE, it now supports 21Mbps HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA at 42Mbps, with LTE at 73Mbps (Verizon, Rogers, Bell, Telus and AT&T will be the LTE partners). The battery life is maintained 10 hours, while 9 hours on 4G.

The iPad Wi-Fi + 4G comes with built-in next generation 4G LTE that supports faster networks for HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA, and both CDMA and GSM iPad users can reap the benefits. Personal Hotspot can be used to share the fast network connection on your iPad with up to 5 other devices using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB. On typing the microphone icon on the keyboard, iPad listens to you and converts it into text. This can be used to write messages, take notes, search the web and more. It works with third-party apps and capable of updating Facebook status, tweeting, or writing Instagram captions.

The new iPad also brings in the latest update to the OS as the iOS 5.1. Chris Cheung from Autodesk showcased the new SketchBook Pro, a drawling app that focuses on art line for artists, exclusively available for iOS from April. Mike Capps, President of Epic Games launched Infinity Blade: Dungeons. Randy Ubillos, Chief Architect for Photo and Video apps talks about reinvention of iPhoto with new gestures, new effects, multi-touch editing, and you can beam photos directly between devices. There’s a new bezel gesture, too. Other elements to be updated are iWork and GarageBand.

A quick look at the highlights of the new iPad:
A5X chip with quad-core graphics
9.7" Retina display with 3.1 million pixels
5 megapixel iSight camera
1080p video support
4G+LTE
iOS 5.1 operating system

The new iPad has been dipped in shades of Black and White and will be made available starting March 16. It is now available for pre-order for select countries - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the U.S Virgin Islands. The end of March will see the device reach another batch of countries, like New Zealand, Greece, Hungary, to name a few. Obviously, you won't see India making it to any of these lists, but going by the latest trend, we shouldn't have to wait too long, till the dainty devices reach our shores. The 16GB iPad is priced at $499 (approx Rs.25,092), 32GB at $599(approx Rs.30,120) and $699 (approx Rs. 35,150) for 64GB. For 4G services, the prices are $629 (approx Rs. 31,630), $729 (approx rs. 36,652) and $829 (approx Rs. 41,679), respectively.

With the launch of the new iPad, the ipad 2 is made available at an affordable price of $399 (approx Rs.20,063) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (approx Rs.26,596) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.