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Apple has apparently started production of its next-generation iPad according to unnamed sources quoted recently in the Wall Street Journal, who reveal that the company’s newest tablet will be “thinner and lighter than the first model”. If the account is accurate, the next iPad will also include a front-facing camera for video conferencing, more memory, “and a more powerful graphics processor.”

The Journal’s report appears to collaborate earlier claims that the next iPad will lack a Retina Display or similar high-resolution screen. After the publication, DigiTimes suggested in late January that the next iPad would boast a screen with 2048 x 1536 resolution IDC research manager Tom Mainelli told PC World: “Our sources say Apple has requested that manufacturers begin work on displays with that resolution for the iPad 3.”

A few days later, the blog 9to5Mac posted alleged photos of the next iPad’s screen. “At this point, we cannot tell if the resolution is higher (or ‘Retina’) but it is definitely higher quality in terms of build. The iPad 2’s display is also lighter, and over a 1mm thinner than the current iPad’s display, with a smaller surrounding frame.”

Given Apple’s customary refusal to offer details of its upcoming products, the blogosphere has been filed with speculation about the next iPad’s possible features. In a Jan. 12 posting, the blog Boy Genius Report suggested the next iPad will lack a home button, relying instead on multi-touch gestures to navigate the home screen, bringing the device’s hardware in line with that of Research In Motion’s upcoming PlayBook tablet, which lets users bring up the home screen with a finger-flick across the bottom of the touch-sensitive casing.

Although the original iPad has continued its massive sales run among consumers, and the current iOS 4.2 contains features that have made it an increasing favourite among business users, Android-based tablets are expected to gain substantial market share in 2011. That could pressure Apple to release a next-generation iPad with enough new features to distinguish it from an ever-growing number of rivals—but a radically different iPad also runs the risk of alienating those customers who plunked down hundreds of dollars for the original device.

However, if Apple decides to walk that tightrope between its competition and its customer base, an unveiling event for the next iPad could be in the works.

(Source: eWeek.com)

DID YOU KNOW? Forrester predicts that more than 24 million tablets, most of them iPads, will be sold in the US this year. HP estimates that the market for gadgets linked to the internet is $160bn and “growing fast”.