Steve Jobs hit the stage today at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco to launch the iPad 2. Jobs says it's a whole new design, with a dual-core 2X faster CPU, 9X faster graphics. Same low power as A4, with same 10-hour battery life. There are two cameras, front and rear as speculated. But it's 33 percent thinner: 8.8mm thick. It ships March 11 — for the same prices, starting at $499. International roll-out is March 25.
"This thing's going to be everywhere in the month of March," says Jobs.
"It's thinner than an iPhone 4," says Jobs. And lighter too, at 1.3 lbs. There's now a built-in gyroscope along with the accelerometer. As rumored, it will come in two colors. Black and white, which will ship "from Day 1," says Jobs.
The iPad 2 will support Verizon and AT&T networks from Day 1, too. However, they won't be 4G speeds — LTE or even HSPA+ compatible — according to the press release, which only confirms "HSUPA support for enhanced 3G upload speeds on iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G on AT&T.
There will not be a major new iPad OS release, or any new tweaking of the home screen or notifications, apparently. Instead, the iPad 2 will ship with iOS 4.3, which has been out in beta. This includes amped-up Safari browser performance, iTunes home sharing, improvements to AirPlay, and a preference option for the switch on the side for muting or rotation lock.
There are also a few camera-friendly apps, including FaceTime, the video-conferencing utility that is now on iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and Mac. There's also Photo Booth, which has zany effects (Picasso distortion, "Predator" view, etc.), like the version that's been on the Mac for ages.
SO.... will you get the new iPad2?
