With so much of tablet news going round the web sphere, more so after the Consumer Electronic Show got over, what seems a bit strange is the contribution to this news stream from a company as formidable as Apple Inc. For a company that can be credited to have sown the seeds of the tablet revolution in the first place with the immensely successful iPad, it indeed is ironical for Apple to be in the headlines off late with more of rumors than some concrete details.
And the target of the latest round of rumors is of course the next generation iPad, which this time is rumored to be hitting markets in the US on the 2nd or the 9th of April, which turn out to be in either the first or the second weekend of April. The current iPad too was launched on the 3rd of April and it too was a Saturday and all the tentative dates rings true with the usual Apple practice of refreshing their product line-up within a year.
Also, as it has been with the first generation iPad, it is the domestic consumers who will get to have a taste of the iPad 2 before the tablet sets sail for offshore destinations sometime around July. The other piece of information that has come to the fore points out that it is Apple via its online or brick and mortar stores that would be the exclusive access points of the the new iPad (6 months) before others like Walmart or Best Buy comes on to the scene.
Meanwhile, we also have a clearer picture of the present iPad successor that is yet to get a proper name though much of it has already ceased to be a secret any more. Like what seems to be an almost surety is that the new iPad will have built-in cameras both at the front and the rear along with an USB port, both of which were so famously missing in the current iPad. In fact, its really amazing the iPad in spite of these missing on its feature list have yet managed to sell in millions, this notwithstanding the best efforts of many a celebrity manufacturer to come up with a suitable alternative to the iPad. Surely they must be ruing the missed chance as the next iPad will have all that the first version did not have and consumers have always wanted.
Also, the next iPad is speculated to come sans the home button, the only button that had been the hallmark of iOS powered devices such as the iPhone and the iPad. Instead, what the new iPad will have is some form of a new multitouch gesture that would bring back the home screen as well as act to launch the app switcher. In fact, the new 4.3 beta version of the iOS that has only recently been released already rendered the home button all the more use less. This has led many to speculate the new iPad to sport a clean front end with no button upfront, versions of which are already believed to be undergoing tests in Apple facilities in California.
Further, there are also reports of Foxconn, the company that manufactures most iOS based devices for Apple is ramping up its production facilities so as to start producing the device en masse, which is slated to begin next month itself.
Related posts:
- Apple iPad 2 Possible US Release Date Revealed
- Next-gen iPad and iPhone could lose the home button
- Top 5 Discoveries In Apple’s iOS 4.3 Beta