What Will the iPad Look Like in 10 Years? [CONTEST]

Apple ImageApple revealed the new iPad Wednesday, as an upgrade to its tablet line. While the new device boasts some anticipated new features, like the HD retina display and 4G LTE capability, it left some disappointed.

However, while it may not have been the revolutionary leap that we've come to expect from Apple product launches, the new iPad does offer some key upgrades. And judging from the response we received yesterday to our question, "What would you with a new iPad?" people aren't as concerned with the name of "the new iPad" as they are its features.

[More from Mashable: What New iPad Feature Are You Most Excited About? [POLL]]

We received hundreds of responses, from people looking to incorporate it into their schoolwork, business or travel lifestyles. Plenty of people want to edit photos with the new iPhoto for iOS. Others want to stay connected to their friends and family, while lots of people simply want to be able to enjoy the fruits of the web -- music, movies and games.

We've decided that the winner of yesterday's contest is Amanda Grondahl of Intrepid Pens, a women's literacy program in Vancouver, Canada. She wrote:

[More from Mashable: U.S. Accuses Apple, Publishers of Ebook Price Fixing [REPORT]]

She also tweeted a response:

@mashable Why am I looking forward to a new iPad? I'd be able to better support efforts to promote literacy for women in the 'hood #mashtech

— Intrepid Pens(@intrepidpens) March 7, 2012

If you didn't win, fear not: We're giving away another $500 Apple gift card and Belkin prize pack today. Today we're asking you to look further down the line and tell us what you think the iPad of the future will look like. Read on to learn how to enter.

Today, we're asking: What do you think the iPad will look like in 10 years?

Tell us in the comments: What will the iPad look like in 10 years? ORTweet your response with the hashtag #mashtech.Submit your response by 12:00 p.m. EST on Friday, March 9.

If you've not commented before, it's easy: Just sign in to Mashable Follow with your existing Facebook or Twitter account and start posting! Please use your real identity in the submission so that we may contact you via email, Twitter or Facebook to let you know you’ve won. This contest is limited to residents of the U.S., UK, Canada (excluding the Province of Quebec), France and Germany who are 18 or older.

We look forward to hearing your responses!

Read our full contest rules here.

The new 9.7-inch iPad has 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, 5-megapixel camera (with the same optics sensor from the iPhone 4S) and 1080p video recording. It is available March 16 in black and white, powered by A5X chip (with quad-core graphics) and supports 4G LTE networks. It's 9.4 millimeters thick and 1.4 pounds.

Wi-Fi only iPads cost $499 for 16 GB, $599 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB, while 4G versions cost $629 for 16 GB, $729 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. Pre-orders start today, and the devices will be in stores March 16 in these 10 countries: U.S., UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

Credit: Apple.com

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Image courtesy of Flickr, Tim Cleary.

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iPad 2 Price Drops to $399

After Apple announced the new iPad Wednesday, the company dropped the price of its predecessor, the iPad 2, to start at $399. Previously the device had been sold starting at $499.

Apple will offer the iPad 2 in two configurations, a 16GB Wi-Fi only model sells for $399. A 16GB Wi-Fi and 3G model (available on either AT&T or Verizon) sells for $529. The iPad 2 will continue to be available in either black or white.

[More from Mashable: What Would You Do With a New iPad? [CONTEST]]

This isn't the first time Apple has continued to offer older versions of its products. When the iPhone 4 was released in 2010, the iPhone 3GS continue to be available for $99 (and later $49). After releasing the iPhone 4S, an 8GB version of the iPhone 4 became available for $99.

The price of used iPad 2 devices is also likely to drop as gadget enthusiasts rush to sell their current devices in preparation for adopting the newly announced model.

[More from Mashable: New iPad Available March 16 Starting at $499]

After and leading up to the iPad 2 announcement last year the resell price of the original iPad dropped significantly. Ebay, for instance, charted more than a 20% decline in the price of the iPad within the three months leading up to the iPad 2 release.

Some resell sites have already noticed an increase in the number of customers who are now looking to sell their iPad 2 devices.

NextWorth, a company that buys and resells electronics saw a 760% increase in the number of requests to sell used iPads in the five hours following Apple's invitation to Wednesday's press conference. Gazelle, a similar service, saw a 500% increase in trade-ins during the same timeframe.

The new iPad has 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, a 5-megapixel camera and 1080p video recording. It is available March 16 starting at $499.

Those new specs are a far cry from the laser beams and flying car that Mashable's Alex Fitzpatrick said would still fail to convince him to buy a new iPad instead of an iPad 2.

Will you also be opting for a cheaper iPad 2 instead of an new iPad? Let us know in the comments.

The new 9.7-inch iPad has 2048 x 1536-pixel retina display, 5-megapixel camera (with the same optics sensor from the iPhone 4S) and 1080p video recording. It is available March 16 in black and white, powered by A5X chip (with quad-core graphics) and supports 4G LTE networks. It's 9.4 millimeters thick and 1.4 pounds.

Wi-Fi only iPads cost $499 for 16 GB, $599 32 GB and $699 for 64 GB, while 4G versions cost $629 for 16 GB, $729 32 GB and $829 for 64 GB. Pre-orders start today, and the devices will be in stores March 16 in these 10 countries: U.S., UK, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, France, Hong Kong, Singapore and Austria.

Credit: Apple.com

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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, iStockphoto, neilkendall

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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Apple unveils new iPad, Apple TV box

Apple unveiled a third-generation iPad enhanced with features aimed at keeping it on top of the booming tablet computer market.

The new iPad boasts a more powerful processor, eye-grabbing resolution on par with that of an iPhone 4S, and the ability to connect to the latest 4G LTE telecom networks that move data faster than their predecessors.

"We think that iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world," Apple chief executive Tim Cook said, noting that iPad sales topped those of any personal computer maker during the final three months of last year.

"We have redefined once again the category Apple created just two years ago with the original iPad," Cook said at a press event in San Francisco, the first major product release by Apple since the death of founder Steve Jobs.

The new iPad will go on sale March 16 in Canada, France, Germany and the United States at the same price as the previous models, which start at $499 for the most basic iPad featuring wireless connectivity only.

An iPad with 16 gigabytes of memory and with both Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity will cost $629 in the United States while a 32GB Wi-Fi/4G model will cost $729 and a 64GB version with Wi-Fi and 4G will cost $829.

In a bid to cater to budget-minded shoppers, Apple will sell a 16GB version of the iPad 2 at a trimmed price of $399.

The new iPad screen was billed as the best display ever on a mobile device. The tablet also features a five-megapixel camera and high-definition video recording.

Apple said the latest model has the same 10-hour battery life as its predecessor, with the span cut by about an hour with constant use of high-performing 4G telecom networks.

The third-generation iPad weighs 1.4 pounds and is 9.4 mm thick, slightly heavier and slightly thicker than the previous model.

Apple showed off an enhanced suite of iPad applications for tasks ranging from movie editing to making music or managing one's life.

A new iPhoto application turns the iPad into a slick tool for editing pictures with simple touches or automated features.

Epic Games president Mike Capps joined Cook to show off a version of the Infinity Blade videogame for the iPad, contending the quality was comparable to videogame console play.

"It is an evolutionary upgrade with a lot of revolutionary features," said Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg. "It is going to put a lot more pressure than before on iPad competitors.

"The updates to GarageBand, iMovie, and the new iPhoto will drive this going forward," Gartenberg said.

"At the end of the day it isn't going to be Tim Cook that sells the iPad, it is going to be the iPad that sells the iPad; and they are going to sell a lot of them," he said.

Apple's App Store has more than 200,000 mini-programs, or "apps," tailored for the iPad with offerings including books, games, and software designed for getting work done.

Apple has dominated the tablet market since launching the iPad two years ago and few expect that to change anytime soon.

IMS Research predicted that Apple would increase its tablet market share to 70 percent in 2012 from 62 percent in 2011 and it will ship 70 million iPads this year, up 71 percent over the previous year.

"Apple's insistence on blending hardware innovation with services innovation will keep the iPad at the front of the tablet pack for the foreseeable future," said Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

Apple real-world stores will be "critical" since the high-resolution screen is the major improvement in the iPad, and it needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, according to Gartner analyst Van Baker.

"It is astoundingly beautiful, but people are going to have to get it in their hands to see this," Baker said.

A new dictation-taking feature could be a stumbling point for the iPad, since that type of technology has proven to be a bane to other companies, according to independent analyst Rob Enderle of Silicon Valley.

The California-based gadget-maker on Wednesday also released an updated Apple TV box used to stream movies, television shows and other content from the Internet to high-definition TV sets.

The new box features a streamlined new user interface and will sell for the same $99 price as the previous model.

Apple TV was synched with iCloud, on online content storage service that lets people buy films or television shows on the box but have the options of watching them on iPhones, iPads, iPod touch devices, or on computers.

Apple released the first version of Apple TV in 2007 but it has never really caught on with the public.

The iPad event was the second Apple product launch by Cook since he took over for Jobs, and both events showcased improved versions of products.

"Let's wait and see if Apple can bring an astounding new class of product to market," Baker said. "Ultimately, they need to do that."

Investors appeared unsurprised by Apple's announcements, with the company's stock price inching up slightly to $531.05 a share in trading on the NASDAQ.

View the original article here

Hands on iPad Reviews: Brighter, Faster, Slightly Heavier

After yesterday's iPad announcement, some lucky tech bloggers got to touch Apple's newest device and their first impressions pretty much confirm the overall first reaction: The same, but better. 

RELATED: Check Out Apple's 'New iPad'

We won't see full blown reviews until Apple ships the tablets to those same lucky tech bloggers. And, the rest of us won't get to touch the thing until the official March 16th release. But from these early tastes of the iPad, it looks like Apple pulled an iPhone 4S, upgrading but not revolutionizing its gadgetry. 

RELATED: Why iPhone Rumors Will Never Be the Same

Let's see what reviewers had to say. 

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The display is good as the iPhone's, says Wired's Jon Phillips:

To be sure, the new iPad’s display is drop-dead gorgeous, as well as notably bright. We scrutinized a bunch of high-resolution images pulled from Apple’s new iPhoto app, and found display quality on the new iPad to be sublime. Just one problem, though: All its brilliance notwithstanding, the iPad Retina Display didn’t show us anything that iPhone 4 and 4S users haven’t seen before.

Actually, it's better, counters GDGT's Ryan Block:

Amazing. Seriously amazing. I really love the Retina Display on the iPhone 4/4S, but this feels like a step forward even from that. Not because it's a better display (which it may well be), but because the much larger scale of the screen makes it feel transformative to the experience of looking at a Retina Display and using an iPad.

Even the apps "pop," explains The Verge's Joshua Topolsky:

 It goes without saying that the screen on the device is absolutely stunning — while we haven't had a chance to look through every possible app on the new iPad, the retooled stock applications and icons really do pop on the Retina Display.  

It makes everything better to look at, adds Mashable's Chris Taylor:

But what I can confirm is how incredibly gorgeous that resolution looks. You can’t tear your eyes away from it. Photos and videos are far more life-like. Games feel closer to reality, too. And books? With a retina display, books seem more attractive on the iPad than in any other format. And I’m not just comparing them to the Kindle, the Nook or the iPad 2; my frame of reference includes physical books, too.

Just, whoa, says Laptop's Mark Spoonauer:

We just picked up the new iPad, available March 16th starting at $499, and could sum up the visual experience in a word: whoa. 

Everything runs quickly, but so did the iPad 2, notes Slash Gear's Vincent Nguyen:

Performance from the A5X dual-core processor – with its quadcore GPU – is swift, with apps loading and multitasking flipping through with zero lag. That’s pretty much what we’re used to from the A5, admittedly; we’ll have to wait and see how the heavy-duty games hold up, though, when more developers begin to test the limits of the iPad’s abilities. 

What seems fast now, though, might end up disappointing, adds Topolsky:

Performance seemed snappy (though we had few complaints about performance on its predecessor). It's probably going to take some time (and serious gaming) to see what the new A5X is capable of.

Philips seconds that, calling it "blissfully zippy":

[W]e found performance in Safari web browsing and Infinity Blade Dungeons to be blissfully zippy. But, again, without some semblance of comparative testing, it’s difficult to comment on what performance bumps, if any, the new processor provides.

The added weight isn't an issue, claims Nguyen:

Physically, it’s 0.11 pounds heavier than the existing iPad 2, though it’s hardly noticeable. In the hand the brushed aluminum chassis feels much the same as before, but the picture quality is so crisp it looks like a promotional mock-up. Viewing angles are huge, too, certainly on a par with what we’ve seen from Super AMOLED panels in recent months.

Other than the thicker shell, the whole thing feels very familiar, adds Phillips:

At first glance, the new iPad exudes familiarity -- and not just because most of its features were telegraphed via leaks and rumors during the last four months. The new slate’s physical design is nearly identical to that of the iPad 2, and nothing about its Appley comportment screams, “I’m an entirely new tablet!”

That said, it will sell anyway, says The Loop's Jim Dalrymple:

The form factor of the iPad itself hasn’t really changed much. It’s still sleek and light-weight, but with all of the new features this is going to sell like crazy.

Apple didn't allow testing of the new 4G LTE offering, explains Phillips:

The new iPad supports 4G data speeds, but demo units were locked down to Wi-Fi during Apple’s event, so we can’t comment on the 4G experience.

It could suck up battery, warns Nguyen:

That brings us neatly to 4G LTE, and we’ll be very keen to see during our review whether the battery claims – 9hrs of active LTE – pan out.

And, Taylor can't wait to test that out:

As for the 4G speeds and the battery life, which Apple says is still in the 9-10 hour range: these claims will also require more extensive testing than Apple would allow in its hands-on area. We’re looking forward to playing battery-hogging games for 10 hours at a time to properly test it out.

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Review: Prettier iPad retains familiar qualities

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — I have grown fond of my iPad 2 during the past nine months. So, I was curious if I would like my tablet computer any less once I saw Apple's new and improved iPad.

The verdict: I won't be abandoning my iPad 2 for its sexier successor anytime soon.

Although Apple Inc.'s latest temptress may turn some heads, the new iPad isn't radically different from last year's model, based on the 15 minutes I was able to spend noodling with the device at the company's product launch Wednesday.

If you don't already own a tablet computer, and want one, then the new iPad will be tough to resist — if you can afford it. The device, which goes on sale March 16 in the U.S., Canada and 10 other countries, will sell for $499 to $829. If you want to save some money, consider the iPad 2, which Apple will continue making and sell for as low as $399.

The new iPad's alluring screen quality provides the main attraction. A higher-resolution screen called "Retina Display" makes everything — from vacation pictures to the text on a website — look crisper. By Apple's calculations, the new iPad offers four times the resolution of its predecessor.

For that reason, you're more likely to buy the new iPad if you are a shutterbug, a video game fanatic or someone who enjoys watching movies on a smaller but luscious screen.

Watching a few minutes of the movie "Hugo" proved to be even more lustrous on the new iPad than it did on my 52-inch flat-panel TV at home. Apple says this should be a routine experience, given that the new iPad can accommodate about 1 million more pixels than even the best HDTVs currently on the market.

Video games look even more realistic, thanks in part to the quad-core graphics chips in the new iPad.

On the down side, an old video on YouTube looked even grainer on the iPad's higher-resolution screen. It reminded me a little of what happens when I mistakenly flip to a standard television channel on my HDTV.

While the imagery can be quite mesmerizing, I am not convinced it's a compelling enough reason for most people to replace one iPad for another

When I just flipped through some photos of some recent trips to Kauai and Pittsburgh that I have stored on my iPad 2, I wasn't wishing I could see what the pictures would look like on a new iPad. I also watched a few minutes of "Lost In Translation" on my iPad 2 without wondering what Scarlett Johansson would look like if I were watching the same movie on the new iPad.

Bottom line: None of the content you have on an iPad 2 will suddenly look fuzzier even after you've seen something on the new iPad. More importantly, other common iPad activities such as Web surfing, checking email and jumping on to Facebook or Twitter, seem to work the same on either the new or old model.

The new iPad includes one intriguing feature that I wish I could have tried. There's a new microphone icon on the iPad's virtual keyboard that can be pressed to dictate emails or other notes on the device. Just say a few sentences and the new iPad is supposed to automatically type up everything you said. Unfortunately, the room where Apple allowed reporters to experiment with the new iPad on Wednesday was too loud for the dictation feature to work effectively.

It seems to me, though, that even the new dictation tool might leave some people pining for something more. Just consider how much more appealing the new iPad would be if Apple had added Siri, the automated personal assistant that has become one of the most popular features on the latest iPhone.

View the original article here

What's My iPad 2 Worth? Here's How to Sell It Online

Wednesday Apple announced a new iPad, sending a flurry of enthusiastic iPad owners to the interwebs to ditch their old tablets to make way for the new.

So, how much can you expect to get for an iPad 2 now that there's a new iPad on the way? We did some digging on the Web to check out what options are available for reselling, and how much you could receive post-announcement.

[More from Mashable: Why The New iPad Did Not Blow My Mind]

For the sake of argument, we acted as though our iPad was in like-new condition, in good working order with no scratches. We picked a 32GB Wi-Fi model to take through the paces and found that we could get anywhere from $194-$400 for the same tablet in pristine condition depending on where we decided to sell it.

Here's a breakdown of some of the options:

[More from Mashable: Hands On with the New iPad: First Impressions [PICS]]

CashForiPads is offering $283 for a 32GB iPad that powers on and works fine. The site wasn't interested in what damage might have occurred to our tablet, as long as that damage didn't involve the screen or the battery. The site is currently offering $247 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and $325 for the top-of-the-line 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version of the tablet. If you decide to sell your iPad 2 to CashForiPads the company will send you a free pre-paid mailer and shipment label to mail your iPad in. once your tablet is in the mail you'll have a tracking number to monitor its progress, and can get paid via check or PayPal upon acceptance from CashForiPads.

Gazelle is one of the better-known sites for trading in old electronics. It's currently offering $225 for a pristine 32GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, $185 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version, and $300 for a flawless 64GB 3G/Wi-Fi version of the tablet. Gazelle offers free shipping if you decide to sell your iPad, and will pay you via check, Amazon gift card, or PayPal once your iPad has been received and inspected.

NextWorth is site very similar to Gazelle and would give us $317.10 for our like-new 32GB, the most of any of the trade-in sites. Unlike some of the other sites, however, NextWorth asks quite a few questions about the tablet's condition. We'd lose $10 of that $317.10 for not including the original box with our iPad 2 when we sent it in, and the price drops down to $267.10 if the back plate is dented or scratched. The site will give us $291.89 for our 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, and get an astounding $406.35 for our 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version.

BuyMyTronics is a similar site to Gazelle and will buy your iPad 2 even if its broken. The site is currently offering $194 for our 32GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, and will pay $183 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version and $241 for the 64GB 3G/Wi-Fi version. Much like the other sites, BuyMyTronics will pay for you to send them your tablet, and will send you a check or PayPal payment once it has received and checked out your tablet.

Surprisingly, eBay seems to be where you're going to get the most cash for your iPad 2 if you're trying to sell it today. Used versions of the 32GB Wi-Fi iPad are currently selling for around $400. A used 16GB iPad 2 sells for around $350, and the 64GB Wi-Fi/3G version is still fetching around $500 on the site. Selling your tablet on eBay requires you to pay a fee to eBay itself for handling the transaction, and then another to PayPal for handling the money part of the equation. While those fees will definitely cut into your profits, they might be worth it if you can get bids on the site higher than what's being offered elsewhere.

Craigslist is another option for selling your iPad to a private party. Depending on where you live, you may be able to get the same amount of money (if not more) for your tablet as you can on eBay. And, there's an added bonus of having cash in hand instantly. One downside of Craigslist, however, is that you'll have to coordinate with and meet with whomever you choose to sell it to. When dealing with large sums of cash and electronics in an in-person encounter with a stranger, you might find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. It's up to you to decide if it's worth the extra cash you might potentially receive.

SEE ALSO: Why you should sell your iPad 2 Now

There are tons of businesses and trade-in programs where you can sell your iPad or iPad 2. If you decide to sell your iPad to a company, make sure you do a little research beforehand to ensure that company is reputable and doesn't have a ton of outstanding complaints about them. Likewise, if you choose to sell your iPad to an individual, make sure you're meeting at a time and location where you feel comfortable making the transaction.

Have any of you tried to sell your iPad or iPad 2 now that there's a new iPad on the way? Tell us about your experiences in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

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iPad rumor report card: Who got it right, who got it wrong

The rumors surrounding Apple’s third-generation iPad have now been replaced with cold, hard facts. But considering the inevitability of the rumor mill that precedes any Apple announcement — and the now-infamous failure of the tech press to get most of the details right about the iPhone 4S — we’ve decided to go back and see which sources got their rumors right, and which failed miserably.

Rumor: Named iPad 3, or iPad HD

While it’s nearly impossible to trace back the origin of the iPad 3 moniker (many just used that as a placeholder), the rumor leading up to the big announcement was that the tablet would actually be called “iPad HD.” The iPad HD name first popped up on The Verge last July. But it wasn’t until Venture Beat and CNet reported that this would be the real name (thanks to an anonymous source) that many assumed the third-generation iPad would carry that handle.

Conclusion: Fail (The Verge, Venture Beat, CNet)

The Verge, Venture Beat, and CNet all got it wrong (or at least their source did). The real name is, well, just iPad, or “new iPad.” If you ask us, either iPad 3 or iPad HD would have been a far better choice.

Rumor: 4G LTE connectivity

The rumor that the third-gen iPad would have a 4G LTE radio really picked up steam in January, after Bloomberg reported as much. This was later corroborated by a report in the Wall Street Journal, which added that both Verizon and AT&T would carry a 4G LTE iPad.

Conclusion: Win (Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal)

Both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal got this one as spot on as possible.

Rumor: Retina display

An iPad with a Retina display has been around since before the iPad 2 was released last year. But after that failed to materialize, the rumor just hooked to the third-gen iPad. The first to indicated that the new iPad would, in fact, have a Retina display with at 2048×1536 resolution was Taiwan-based DigiTimes, which reported this detail in August of 2011. DigiTimes’ report was followed up a few days later by a report from the Wall Street Journal. The rest, as they say, is history.

Conclusion: Win (DigiTimes)

DigiTimes — a regular source of Apple rumors, but not a consistently accurate one — got it totally right. The new iPad does have a 9.7-inch, 2048×1536 resolution Retina display, just as the site reported.

Rumor: Design nearly identical to iPad 2

The first believable report about the new iPad’s design came via The New York Times, which received word from an unnamed Apple employee that it is “essentially the same size and shape as the iPad 2.” We received further evidence of this thanks to China-based tech blog MIC Gadget, which had photos and video of what they claimed was the front and back shell of the new iPad. Those parts showed that the next-gen Apple tablet would look nearly identical to the iPad 2, but be slightly thicker.

Conclusion: Win (The New York times, MIC Gadget)

The New York Times’ information was correct, and the MIC Gadget photos seem legit, as well. The new iPad is almost identical to the iPad 2, save a bit of extra girth: it measures 9.4mm thick, versus the iPad 2's 8.8mm.

Rumor: Quad-core CPU

In early January, 9to5Mac reported that code embedded in the developer version of iOS 5.1 suggested upcoming iPads and iPhones would run on a quad-core processor. About a week later, the same Bloomberg report that said we’d see LTE in the new iPad also indicated that the device would run on a quad-core CPU, based on information from two unnamed sources. At this time, most believed the CPU would be called the A6. In early February, The Verge reported that the A6 processor would actually be dual-core, like the A5 — not quad-core. Then, in the middle of last month, a photo of what appeared to be an Apple circuit board appeared on a Chinese website. But the processor in the photo was called an A5X, not an A6.

Conclusion: Fail (Bloomberg)

While Bloomberg got it wrong, The Verge got it half right — the most important half. The CPU in the new iPad is (apparently) dual-core, not quad-core. But the leaked photo was right, too; the processor is called the A5X, not the A6. To make things confusing, however, Apple has included a quad-core graphics processor, which may have been the source of the inaccuracies in earlier reports.

Rumor: Siri

The addition of Siri voice assistant on the third-gen iPad seemed all but a given, even thought we weren’t able to track down the exact source of that rumor. Still, Siri appeared on many of the “what to expect” articles in the lead-up to the new iPad announcement, including ours.

Conclusion: Fail (Digital Trends)

Since we haven’t been able to trace back to the original source, we’ll take the blame for spreading this false rumor. (Hey, we’re as guilty as anyone.) Alas, the new iPad does not have Siri, though it does feature voice-to-text capabilities.

Rumor: Camera upgrades, front and back

In early January, iLounge reported that the new iPad would feature a high-definition front camera similar to those found on new Macs. Then, in early February, Repair Labs leaked photos of what apperaed to be the rear casing of the third-gen iPad, which showed a larger hole for the camera than is on the iPad 2. All of this (and the slew of speculation that followed) suggested that new cameras, front and back, would arrive on the new iPad.

Conclusion: Fail (iLounge)

The iLounge report was dead wrong; the front camera is still VGA-quality. But the rear camera has been upgraded to 5-megapixels, can is capable of shooting 1080p video.

Rumor: March 16 release date

The original release dated floating around was March 9. But six days prior to the actual announcement, the Houston Chronicle suggested that the third-gen iPad would come out on March 16, the same day as Apple plans to open stores in both Houston, and at the Harrod’s department store in London.

Conclusion: Win (Houston Chronicle)

The Chronicle was right: March 16 is New iPad Day. But pre-orders are available now.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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New iPad highlights need for flexible data plans

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The new iPad's faster data speeds will likely impress consumers, right up until they get a nasty surprise in the form of increased wireless service fees.

To counter the shock, analysts say AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless need to get creative with their data pricing.

Apple Inc's U.S. iPad partners AT&T and Verizon Wireless base their mobile Web access fees on customer usage, unlike Sprint Nextel, which does not sell the iPad but still offers unlimited data use for a flat fee.

Buyers of the new iPad who use it a lot on the go may end up paying more than the typical monthly fees, which start at $15 at AT&T and $20 at Verizon Wireless.

Some may opt for a Wi-Fi only iPad in order to avoid service provider fees entirely.

But if operators adjust their data plans, they could avoid upsetting existing subscribers and maybe even attract new ones who might have been leaning toward Wi-Fi only, according to analysts.

"In our view, current tablet data plans offered by AT&T and Verizon seem ill-matched for the new LTE iPad, which has the potential to consume a lot of data," Guggenheim Partners analyst Sing Yin said in a research note. "However, a multi-device data plan could make the LTE option more attractive."

Telecom executives have realized for some time that their pricing models for tablets are unattractive. A vast majority of consumers have voted with their wallets by opting for Wi-Fi only versions of previous iPad models over the tablets with connections to the carriers' networks.

As early as May 2011, Verizon Wireless told Reuters it was looking at data service plan changes.

Verizon Communications Inc Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo told an investor conference last month that his company would come out with some form of account-based billing by the middle of this year: People in family plans or corporate accounts would be able to share a single bucket of minutes.

This would not eliminate usage-based billing but would give customers with multiple devices more flexibility.

"You have enterprise customers. You have family (customers) who have a number of devices in their portfolio where they would just want to pay a price and share the data instead of buying an individual data plan for each phone," Shammo said.

Such changes could go a long way toward encouraging use of the iPad on the cellular network, UBS analyst John Hodulik said in an interview ahead of Wednesday's launch of the new iPad.

"That will promote people to buy more devices that are connected to the cellular network," Hodulik said. "People are very focused on how much data they use."

Verizon Wireless is a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc.

(Reporting By Sinead Carew; editing by John Wallace)

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Report Claims iPad 3 Already In Production, Confirms March Release Date

Apple has already begun iPad 3 production according to reports (Image via Wikipedia)

Get ready for the iPad 3 sometime this March. Apple is said to have begun production on the third-generation tablet earlier this month.

Bloomberg is reporting that production started at the beginning of January and will reach full volume some time in February. Apple enthusiasts have a few good reasons to be excited.

1. The next iPad will be faster than ever. Three separate anonymous sources said to be “familiar with the product” also say that the iPad 3 will use a quad-core processor, giving the iPad increased multi-tasking power.

2. LTE is coming to iPad, sources say. Before 4G LTEcomes to the iPhone, it’s coming to the iPad 3 which will get LTE (long-term-evolution) network support.

3. iPad 3 will look better than ever. The display will be higher resolution than past models, adding pixels and graphics power. The third generation iPad is rumored to have “more pixels on its screen than some high-definition televisions.”

The graphics processor is also more powerful giving video playback and app performance over previous models.

The report claims that at least some of Foxconn’s Chinese factories are running for 24 hours a day.

So far Apple has not commented on the rumors.

The timing of the iPad 3 release coincides with the Nokia Lumia 900 release in March. So far 2012 is once again shaping up to be the year of the iPad, not the year of the tablet as most tablet buzz continues to surround Apple’s products. Of course the year is long and we have miles to go before we sleep.

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here.

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Improved IPad May Impend in March

January 17, 2012, 10:20 AM EST By Tim Culpan, Peter Burrows and Adam Satariano

(Updates with screen information in seventh paragraph.)

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.’s next iPad, expected to go sale in March, will sport a high-definition screen, run a faster processor and work with next-generation wireless networks, according to three people familiar with the product.

The company’s manufacturing partners in Asia started ramping up production of the iPad 3 this month and plan to reach full volumes by February, said one of the people, who asked not to be named because the details aren’t public. The tablet will use a quad-core chip, an enhancement that lets users jump more quickly between applications, two of the people said.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook is counting on the new model to ward off mounting competition in a market that Apple pioneered two years ago. After its debut in 2010, the iPad emerged as the company’s second-biggest source of revenue -- after the iPhone -- and inspired rival products from Amazon.com Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Apple has sold more than 40 million iPads, generating at least $25.3 billion in sales.

Natalie Kerris, a spokeswoman for Apple, said the company doesn’t comment on rumor and speculation.

The Cupertino, California-based company has been working on making the iPad compatible with a wireless standard called long- term evolution, or LTE, said one of the people. Carriers such as Verizon Wireless and ATT Inc. are rolling out LTE networks to give users faster access to data.

LTE Networks

Smartphone makers, including Samsung, Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and Nokia Oyj, have already introduced smartphones that work on the faster networks. Apple is bringing LTE to the iPad before the iPhone because the tablet has a bigger battery and can better support the power requirements of the newer technology, said one of the people.

The new display is capable of greater resolution than the current iPad, with more pixels on its screen than some high- definition televisions, the person said. The pixels are small enough to make the images look like printed material, according to the person. Videos begin playing almost instantly because of the additional graphics processing, the person said.

The new iPad is being assembled by Apple’s main manufacturing partner, Foxconn Technology Group. Like most technology companies, Apple contracts with companies in Asia for labor to assemble its devices. Foxconn, which also builds the iPhone and other Apple products, gets about 22 percent of its sales from Apple, according to supply-chain data compiled by Bloomberg.

Boosting Production

Mass production began at the start of this month, with factories running 24 hours a day in China, one of the people said. Manufacturing will halt over China’s Lunar New Year holiday this month and then ramp back up to a peak in February, the person said.

The introduction of the new iPad will be Apple’s first major hardware release since the death of company co-founder Steve Jobs in October. The company is hosting an education event focused on electronic textbooks next week that won’t include any hardware introductions, said a person familiar with the matter.

Apple, the world’s largest technology company by market value, was little changed today in U.S. trading at $419.81. The stock rose 26 percent in 2011, marking its third straight year of gains.

--Editors: Nick Turner, Romaine Bostick, Jeffrey Tannenbaum

To contact the reporters on this story: Tim Culpan in Taipei at tculpan1@bloomberg.net; Peter Burrows in San Francisco at pburrows@bloomberg.net; Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Tighe at mtighe4@bloomberg.net; Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

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Apple iPad 3: Launching in February, March, or later?

Apple rumors -- they seem to work readers, writers and editors up into a frenzy producing an echo of reports around the Internet. These blips of salacious speculation seem to spawn anew multiple times each week and, from time to time, they also fail to line up with one another, instead butting heads in contradiction.

The latest example of such conflicting rumors is the recent reports published on the pending release of what the tech media has dubbed the "iPad 3," Apple's eventual follow-up tablet to the hugely successful iPad 2 of 2011 and first-generation iPad released in 2010.

Late last week, as many tech reporters were hustling to keep up with wacky gadgets and the evolutionary advancement of TVs, smartphones and tablets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Bloomberg News reported that Apple's next iPad would go on sale in March with 4G LTE connectivity (the first two iPads have Wi-Fi or 3G), a faster processor and a higher resolution touch screen.

Bloomberg didn't mention when it believed Apple would unveil the iPad 3, in its report, which cited three anonymous sources that reportedly have knowledge of Apple's plans.

Aside from the March-debut nugget of information, the rumored iPad 3 specs have been reported and re-reported countless times since Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 on March 2, 2011, ahead of the tablet hitting U.S. stores on March 11, 2011.

On Tuesday, the Japanese website Mackotakara reported that the unveiling of a so-called iPad 3 along with an update to Apple's iOS 5 operating system would take place in February. According to PCMag and Apple Insider, Mackotakara cited an unnamed Asian supplier and an anonymous source in the U.S. for its report.

So, do the Bloomberg and Mackotakara reports line up or contradict? When is the iPad 3 coming -- February or March?

In all likelihood, only Apply really knows when it will launch its next iPad. And Apple, which is known to reschedule its events and product launches up to the last minute, isn't saying. The company never comments on speculation about its product launches.

But it could be that both Mackotakara and Bloomberg are right? Maybe (and yes, I'm speculating here) the iPad 3 will be unveiled in February and go on sale in March?

Apple introduced the original iPad on Jan. 27, 2010, but it didn't go on sale until April 3, 2010.

Complicating matters is the Taiwanese website DigiTimes (which has a reputation for publishing inaccurate tech rumors). The DigiTimes has reported that the iPad 3 would be released sometime this month -- but the site has also said its unnamed sources have also said the iPad 3 may arrive in March or April.

Well, here's one thing you can count on: Whenever Apple's next iPad is released, the Technology blog (and the much of the tech reporting world) will have plenty of coverage of the eagerly anticipated new tablet.

RELATED:

Apple iPad 3 rumors: From feasible to far-fetched

Apple iOS 5.1 beta code hints at quad-core iPad, iPhone

Apple iPad 3: Retina display and 5 more features we'd like to see

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Nathan Olivarez-Giles on Google+

Twitter.com/nateog

Photo: The Apple iPad 2. Credit: Nathan Olivarez-Giles / Los Angeles Times

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