07 Mar

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uxd-521uus[/youtube]

To little surprise, Apple’s coyly “secret” press event last week acted as the debut of the next generation of the company’s iPad tablets. The new version will include both rear and front-facing cameras, a gyroscope for motion-based development, an HDMI output, and a dual-core A5 processor (which will make the device reportedly run 9x faster than its predecessor). The iPad 2 will also be lighter and thinner, 33% and .2 pounds lighter, respectively.

The iPad 2 will be offered at several SKUs: 16GB ($500), 32GB ($600), and 64GB ($700) for Wi-Fi Only; and 3G compatible models at the sizes for $630, $730, and $830, respectively. The device will be on both AT&T and Verizon services and launch on March 11th in the States, and 26 other countries between the 11th and 25th.