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    • iPad 2 revealed – out March 11

    Written By: Nigel Wood
    March 2, 2011

    As expected, Apple revealed the highly anticipated iPad 2… what wasn’t expected was Steve Jobs.That’s right, Steve was on hand to plug the new iPad 2 and equally lay down a challenge to all tablet manufacturers, who he says will be still playing catch up to the iPad 1.

    As expected it’s thinner and lighter , comes in both black and white, and features a faster A5 dual core chip (twice the speed of iPad 1) and a new graphics chip (nine times faster than its predecessor).

    a5That of course means we’ll see some great new games that harness that new graphical power, instead of it playing second fiddle to the iPhone 4. As far as screen resolution goes though, it’s the same 1024×768, with no retina display announced (iPad 3?). Gyro has now been added too, to match that of the iPhone 4.

    The other thing announced today that gamers might find interesting is that the iPad can now become a TV-connected gaming console. By attaching the new HDMI adapter (sold separately) to your iPad 2 and HD TV, you can play games in full screen on your TV. And because it works right out of the box, all apps will work without the need for updates. Meaning that you can cover the screen all you like with your fingers and get a full view of the action on your TV. UPDATE: The official apple store description states that the HDMI adapter will work with iPad 1, but video mirroring is only supported on iPad 2, even if 4.3 is installed)

    mirroring_

    Again, as exected the iPad now sports two cameras. One on the front for facetime and the other on the back for shooting HD video. WIth the new version of iMove announced for iPad, this means it becomes a fully fledged movie editing studio.

    The iPad 2 will be available in the US on March 11, with a March 25th release in Europe. The pricing structure is the same as before.

    So, what do you think? Will you get one on day one, or wait for iPad 3? Leave your comments below.

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    • Basshead

      i have Ipad 1, so i think i will wait for Ipad 3

    • Jas

      Good to see the dual core CPU and same great power consumption.

      But, what about USB and SD ports? Stereo speakers? Higher resolution touch sensitivity at least, if not higher res display.

      Where’s the “next big thing” gimmick?

      Looks like we’ll have to await a quad core iPad3 for those things. I’m now planning on sticking with the iPad1 and upgrading straight to iPad3 when it is released.

      Nothing revolutionary here whatsoever :(

    • Luke

      Uhhh, same resolution means the rumours of an iPad 3 in the fall are looking more and more realistic.

    • thefunkhunter

      ipad 2 is an epic fail low res garbage. Only 15 % weight difference and the biggest new feature is the $70 cover. Horrible, what a dissapointment

    • Nigel Wood

      Well I wouldn’t say that. The new A5 chip and 9x graphics is a pretty big deal. However, those with with iPad 1s probably will hold off until the next iPad.

    • http://www.ihandystore.com wortek

      They definitely need to lunch 7 inch tablet in the summer.

    • legend.inc

      Yay !! im getting one as soon as it comes out :D

    • Mac

      Can someone clarify.. is the video-out for gaming capability only for the iPad 2? So if I plug in the HDMI-out cable on my iPad 1, the same won’t hold true? What about browsing the internet? Can it now be done with the iPad 1 via the HDMI-out cable?

    • Nigel Wood, UK

      As far as I’m aware, the HDMI out will only be available for iPad 2. It allows for full video mirroring. So whatever you are doing on the iPad in any App, is mirrored exactly on the TV. The iPad 1 is probably missing some extra hardware to push out the video signal over HDMI.

    • Xstra

      Going to camp out at the apple store to get it. Been waiting a log time

    • D Fizzle

      Hi guys,

      The hdmi adaptor will work with iPad 1, with one small caveat, it can only output 1024 x 768.

      The iPad 2 can output 1024 x 768 for apps etc, but if you have a 1080p movie on there on it’s own internal screen it’s scaled to 1024 x 768 (obviously) but via the adaptor the added graphical horsepower enables it to output the native 1080p signal to the connected display.

      In other words another reason not to really bother upgrading from iPad 1 unless you are a 1080p movie freak with lots of films on your iPad

    • Jeffyg3

      Doesn’t seem like a worthwhile upgrade at all. Dual processors, better graphics chip, and more than likely more memory, but one thing that would have gotten me to upgrade is if they included more storage. After about a year of owning the iPad I’ve needed more room from my 64 gig, even took out all the movies and most of my music. I was hoping for a 128gig iPad. I see no good point in upgrading at all.

      Also Apple needs to upgrade their iOS for the iPad. I got done playing with the Xoom demo a few days ago…now I think Android 2.2 is really a piece of **** OS…it’s just crap, but Android 3.0 Honeycomb is whole different ball game. It’s fun to use, untuitive, looks amazing, and has a modern feel to it with awesome new features. Then going back to iOS 4.3 GM on my iPad makes it feel archaic, old, boring, etc.

      I hope Apple updates their OS like google has done for their tablets, cuz the iOS is getting really dated with Android 3.0.

    • thefunkhunter

      they haven’t released the ram specs probably cuz they are ashamed. so i’m guessing it’s going to be 512 same as iphone 4

    • Jeffyg3

      “they haven’t released the ram specs probably cuz they are ashamed. so i’m guessing it’s going to be 512 same as iphone 4″

      Apple has never released any ram info for any of their iPod, iPhone, iPad systems. The only reason we know any of the ram specs for any of those devices is the teardowns people do once they get them and system utilities that detects the ram in the system. Watch any of their events, Apple never talks about the ram specifications ever, or even look at the iPhone 4 page on the Apple web site, you guess it, no ram specs. They never mentioned it, because for some reason Apple has never talked about it.

    • Jas

      RAM in iPad2 is more likely same as iPad1 and 3GS at 256Mb. I doubt it has 512Mb.

      That’s why Apple were silent about it.

    • KinoMark

      Apple does not make official statements about ram in their electronics, except for their Macs. No more dumb ass speculations. End of story.

    • Nigel Wood, UK

      1TB…fact! ;)

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