Apple Announcement LIVE: Updates From March 2 Press Conference
You've seen the invite. Now it's time to get the event underway.
Apple's March 2 announcement is finally here. The press conference is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern Time and you can follow along below. You can also find a list of other ways to follow the event and what to expect here.
All indications are it will indeed be the iPad 2 and before the event begins, you may want to check in one last time on its rumored features.
Thanks for following along! See photos from the event and learn more about the iPad 2 here.
Apple has posted the official iPad 2 technical specifications on their website. You can view them yourself here.
The new iPad will be available in Apple retail stores March 11, starting at 5 p.m.
Check out Apple's official site for more details and iPad 2 demos.
Apple's digital audio studio is getting the touch treatment, including virtual touch instruments (namely grand piano organ, guitars, drums and bass), guitar amps and effects and 8 track recording and mixing.
With new video capabilities comes a new version of iMovie featuring new themes, AirPlay to Apple TV, HD video sharing, and multitrack audio recording. It will be available March 11 for $4.99.
With the addition of cameras, the iPad gets a few new features for video and photos, including Apple's classic Photo Booth, and FaceTime capabilities with both other iPads and iPhone 4s.
The newest iOS update will come with increased Safari performance, iTunes home sharing, improved Airplay capabilities, and will provide a preference for the iPad switch (mute or screen-lock).
The update will also allow the iPhone 4 to turn into a personal hotspot.
Steve Jobs via the Engadget Liveblog:
"We did a case for the original iPad. It worked pretty well, but we went to all the trouble to make this beautiful design, but then covered it up with the case. We thought we could do better than this with the iPad 2."
The new cases, "Smart Covers," feature a folding flap that allows more of the iPad to be seen, and will come in a plethora of colors.
iPad 2 will have a mirrored HDMI video out peripheral, capable of up to 1080p display, which will cost $39.
The pricing scheme will be the same as the original iPad ($499-$699 for the WiFi only model, $629-$829) for WiFi + 3G), and it will begin shipping on March 11.
It will also be available on both the Verizon and AT&T cellular networks.
The new iPad is 33 percent thinner (8.8 mm thick), .2 pounds lighter (1.3 lbs total), and will be available with both a black and white front.
iPad 2 features both a rear and front-facing camera, though no details on how powerful they are.
The new iPad will also include the next generation of apple's processor, deemed A5. It's a dual-core processor with up to 2x the speed, 9x faster graphics, and lower power usage like the A4.
Jobs compares Android apps to iPad apps, showing that there are 65,000 iPad-specific apps as compared to just 100 Honeycomb (Android Tablet) apps.
| @ Scobleizer : Apple is repeating what I've been saying for months. Apps are all that matters and competitors are way behind. |
Jobs says that 2010 turned out to be the year of the iPad with 15 million sold in 2010 in just nine months of sales.
Steve Jobs says Apple has crossed 200 Million accounts and paid out $2 billion to developers from selling apps on the App Store.
According to Engadget's LiveBlog of the Apple Event:
10:02AM Whoa! Steve is out!
Here's a report from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco, the site of the Apple event:
| @ muradahmed : The venue is full. And there quite a few people left standing. For media, you can't arrive late to this one |
It looks like Amazon Germany may have accidentally leaked the pricing and specs for the new iPad. Your Daily Apple has a screenshot of the 16 GB iPad 2 listing, which interestingly includes a Thunderbolt port and a 499 Euro (almost $699) pricing.
The screenshot also suggests the new iPad will be available (at least in Europe) on March 17. However, the original Amazon.de posting seems to have been pulled from the site.
While the "leaked" photos hint at a number of features and a new design, nothing's official until the press conference actually begins. Here's a roundup of the rumors surrounding iPad 2 so far. Which ones do you think will come true?
Gizmodo has photos of what the iPad 2 might look like from a Chinese website.
"Like all Apple product launches–well, all save one–very little is known. But there’s been speculation and intelligence enough these past few months to make a few reasonable predictions about what we might see."
They've speculated on some of those predictions here.
T3.com reports that Apple's online store is temporarily down, which it says further supports the idea that its second-generation tablet device could be immediately available.
You can find live updates right here during Apple's event today.
We don't expect there to be a live video stream, but if there it is, we'll also add it to this post.
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First Posted: 03/02/11 12:11 PM ET Updated: 05/25/11 07:35 PM ET