The wraps come off iPad 2
Stephen Hutcheon
March 3, 2011 - 7:42AM- Thinner than the iPhone 4
- Available in Australia on March 25
San Francisco: Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs has taken the stage to unveil the iPad 2, the upgraded version of its market-leading tablet computer.
His appearance is a surprise given he announced he was taking medical leave in January as a result of pancratic cancer and a liver transplant.
He's back ... Steve Jobs has unveiled the iPad 2. Photo: Reuters
Jobs said the new iPad - which goes on sale in the US on March 11 and in Australia on March 25 - was an "all new design" with a new processor that would make the device twice as fast.
A new version of the Apple mobile operating system - iOS 4.3 - will also come out as a free update on March 11.
"The first thing is it's dramatically faster," he said, talking about the new dual core A5 processor. "It’s up to nine times faster on the graphics."
Steve Jobs says the new iPad 2 will be 33 per cent thinner. Photo: Getty Images
As expected, the iPad 2 comes with front and rear-facing cameras and a built-in gyro for advanced gaming.
The Apple CEO said the new iPad would be 33 per cent thinner - from 13.4mm to 8.8mm thick. He said that would make it thinner than the iPhone 4. The iPad 2 will also be lighter: 590 grams versus 680 grams.
He said the iPad 2 would come in two colours - black and white. "And we will be shipping white from day one," he quipped, a reference to the long-delayed white iPhone 4 which has been held back due to production issues.
Dressed in his usual black mock turtle neck and faded Levis, Jobs said the new iPad will go on sale at the same starting price. The base model iPad sells for $699 in Australia.
"We think 2011 is going to be the year of iPad 2," he said.
He also announced a swag of new apps, accessories from cables to multicoloured magnetised covers.
The Apple co-founder was in good form, poking fun at the competition. He said they had been "flummoxed" by the iPad and declared that this year would also be the year of the iPad "copycat".
Jobs said Apple had sold nearly 15 million iPads last year, generating $US9.5 billion in revenue in the nine months after its launch.
Jobs also announced that Apple had sold over 100 million books on the iPad's iBookstore.
He said the majority of Apple’s revenues now come from these post PC devices such as the iPad.
Apple turns 35 on April 1.
Among the other announcements are:
- Apple has just shipped its 100 millionth iPhone
- Apple has paid out a total of $US2 billion to app developers
- There are now 200 million active iTunes accounts
- Apple has sold over 100 million ebooks in nine months
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