Apple’s new iPad is out and in circulation among the public, but many question whether it’s any different from its predecessor, the iPad 2.

When comparing the two models side by side, there are in fact subtle differences, the main difference between the two models is the new retina display on the new iPad and the increased battery life.

The new retina screen on the new iPad is revolutionary.

When comparing the two screens, a user can differentiate between the two. The new iPad has 4 times the amount of pixels than the iPad 2.

Retina Display:

If a user looks closely they can see the difference in the sharpness and clarity around icons and text. The retina display has more pixels than most HD tv’s.

The battery in the new iPad is the other biggest difference between the new iPad and the iPad 2, The new battery can power the device for 10 hours and with the LTE turned on, 9 hours.

The new iPad is barely larger than the iPad 2 so the increase in battery life is quite an achievement. There are speculations surrounding possible new battery technology in the new iPad battery.

Although the new battery and screen are achievements, the complaints towards the excessive heat of the device have overshadowed the positives.

The device has been known to get up to 116 degrees and has caused consumers to become very uncomfortable. According to rumors, the cause of the excessive heat happens to be coming from the new AX5 processor in the new iPad.

So considering the lack of major differences between the iPad 2 and new iPad and the overheating issue, I would say that it is not worth it to invest in the new iPad. I would much rather spend less money on the iPad 2 and not have my hands burned then enjoy a new screen. Please leave thoughts and comments below.

Here’s what you can expect out of the new iPad:

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At a lower price, the same popular iOS, and a more portable size, the “iPad Mini” could become the kind of the tablet industry. Amazon should take caution as the Mini could prove to be detrimental to the Kindle’s success. Will you buy the “iPad Mini” when it is released later this year?

There would appear to be a magic figure that Apple want all iPads to be able to deliver and that is 10 hours use of their tablets on a single charge.

So how do you ensure that this desirable 10 hour figure stays the same when the new version of the iPad will offer 4G LTE (a notorious battery drainer) and a densely packed 3 million pixel high definition screen consuming power via quad core graphics processing?

One answer would obviously be to put in a bigger battery, but when you have got a product that is selling like hotcakes and has no reason to reinvent itself, why on earth would you redesign a winning formula to accommodate a bigger battery. Even though the new iPad is heavier and slightly larger it is hardly a full redesign.

The other would be to reduce the overall power consumption by redesigning the chip architecture.

New battery technology ensures great performance:

But the answer for Apple has come from working on the battery itself and this has resulted in an iPad 3 battery that has nearly double the capacity of the iPad 2 battery meaning you get a whipping 42Wh in teh iPad 3 compared to to only 25Wh in the iPad 2 which from my tests on wi-fi and general use is hardly a poor battery anyway.

This when measured in milliamps means that the new iPad 3 will offer 11,666 mAh compared to the iPad 2’s 6944 mAh, so almost double.

But, like we have mentioned prior, the iPad 2 is considerably less power hungry on the screen side and also with the 4G LTE option that the new iPad 3 will offer, so Apple had to do something.

So what is going on in this battery to make it so powerful without the associated weight and size growth that it would seem to need?

Apple battery labs are hard at work:

Until we see the final product and get some wise ass to do a “teardown” we can not fully say, but, it appears that Apple’s battery laboratories have been hard at work testing new technology and improving the power of their Li-ion cells, and with the battery world in serious need of a catch up to keep up with new mobile technology that is so power hungry, could Apple have found more technology with which to sue every other company who tries to take a bite.

Are you happy with your iPad battery life currently and how do you think they will manage to pull this off when the new device will be so power hungry?

At a key event held in San Francisco, Apple will give further news on the anticipated release date of the new iPad 3 and offer a glimpse of the device teasing us all with some carefully chosen words to describe what to expect.

“Something you really have to see. And touch”

So sort of like the iPad 2 and pretty much any other device that uses touchscreen technology.

Aside from the fact that we know bugger all really about the expected release date, it is clear for many that the date is imminent and advice to ditch your iPad 2 now to ensure the largest sale price prior to an official release date is common.

So let us have a look at some likelihoods of the new iPad version:

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• Quad Core Processing
• 2048×1536 Retina display
• Identical looking

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No big Kahuna:

So as you can see it looks like not much will really have altered on the device cosmetically apart from the insides being beefed up. And when you think that neither the Samsung nor the Amazon Kindle Fire has really affected the growth in sales of the iPad, the old adage of “why mend what’s not broken” springs to mind as the new device looks set to offer a seriously hi-res retina display and a very powerful quad core processor, meaning that the iPad moves ahead (for a while) of its nearest rivals in terms of tech inside until the next update.

Yes I am looking forward to the next iteration of the successful Apple tablet and can fully understand why they may keep with simply updating the innards rather than providing us with a whole new tablet, after all it is what it does rather than what it looks like that is the most appealing aspect of Apple products even though they also look far better than their rivals anyway.

There is a reason why they are so successful, they tick the boxes of the modern tech consumer on every level.

A few things have happened of recent to make me think that the release date of the next iPad will actually be early March, with some saying the 4th.

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• We already predicted it!
• Certain stores are now selling discounted iPad 2’s
• Other retailers such as Carphone Warehouse and Orange are stating that they are running out of iPad 2’s
• Reliable sources at iMore say the same…so it has to be true….;)

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So with all this in mind what is all this we hear about 4G on the iPad 3?

Will the iPad have 4G capabilities?

With some 38 or so frequencies that 4G will run on internationally, it is not as easy as manufacturers would like to simply offer 4G connectivity globally, yes it can be done but it currently comes at a price, so with this in mind and the alternative being a domestic 4G device that only works within your own territory what is the likelihood of the next iPad having international LTE 4G capabilities?

Well it seems that the iPad will certainly be 4G enabled in the US as the WSJ has confirmed suspicions that AT&T and Verizon will be host to the new 4G enabled iPad 3. Wether this extends to being global 4G connectivity is doubtful but perhaps an option will emerge at a price.

Unfortunately and rather annoyingly for the UK, the delays that have presented themselves in the roll out of 4G will mean that this new technology will not be available on mass for a few years, so we will probably be on the iPad 4 or 5 by the time this becomes truly relevant in the UK.

New apps means new screen?

It is likely that the much touted retina display will finally get a showing and new Apps being developed will make the most out of the 2048 x 1536 display, processor wise things are a little unclear with reports of an A6 quad core and an improved dual core ARM Cortex A9, which, if any, make the grade I am unsure of.

The first week of March will see Apple hold an event that will hail the arrival of the iPad 3, this is according to a report on AllThingsD, this is obviously more of the same old rumour mill tripe that we sometimes churn out for you to read and get our figures up..;)…but these sources seem to be saying that the actual iPad 3 tablet will be available in the second or third week of March, with iOS 5.1 getting a showing pretty soon after.

So it looks likely that the new Apple iPad 3 will be making a showing pretty soon, and according to Japanese blog Macotakara it could well be a 9.7-inch retina display panel with 2,048 x 1,536-pixel resolution.

iLab Factory, Chinese repair parts reseller, shows a Sharp made LCD panel which is considered to be for iPad 3.

What do you think to the rumours and date expected?

With a very late review of the iPad 2 coming soon, it is nice to look at news of the new iPad 3 and speculate on what areas it will improve on its older brother.

The iPad 3 is due for release in March, and Bloomberg seem to think that the new device will have a sharper screen courtesy of a High Def display and also feature LTE access which we expected anyway.

A speed increase will be delivered via a quad core chip, and while suppliers are not named in the article, it has been rumored that the ramp up in production will mean February is a key time period in the pre-iPad 3 calendar as full steam will be well and truly ahead on the production lines.

With Apple now selling more than 40 million iPads globally, the tablet has brought revenues of some $25.3 billion into Apples coffers.

LTE key to future of mobile devices:

With space running out on conventional network bandwidth, and a boom in smartphone and tablet use putting ever increasing pressures on data transfer via the traditional internet networks, LTE will bring two important new areas to mobile devices:

Speed and increased efficiency of data transfer.

Both will work together in helping the globe go more mobile, and stop further clogging up of the networks as more of the populations of the US, Europe, Asia and the world go mobile crazy and demand more bandwidth while out and about.

With China having their Lunar New Year holiday in February, and Foxconn being the main assemblers of the iPad 3, it is thought that the device will start being delivered to customers in March at the earliest.

With news on an Apple event to be held next week related to education, we are not expecting to hear the above information from the horses mouth any time soon.

So does this kind of news excite you about the new iPad or are they simply beefing up an already capable tablet PC, and if so, what do you think they should be looking at including in order to cement their status as the manufacturer of the best Tablet PC on the market?…Arguably.

The old saying “why fix it if it ain’t broken” applies to the iPad almost perfectly.

Here we have an icon of design that is so well executed it has not only spawned masses of imitators, with only the ASUS Transformer Prime coming anywhere near close to outshining the original tablet PC, but it also refuses to alter after years at the top.

So with this in mind, what do you really want of the new iPad 3?

Many will say;

“I want Apple to reinvent the wheel,”

And expect them to always bring them the new, slimmer, sexier iPad that we expect every few years.

Sorry to disappoint the design junkies:

I am afraid it looks like the next iPad will stay the same in design.

Now let us look at another saying that may make you happier.

“It is what is on the inside that counts.”

Yes your parent(s) or guardians should have told you this when you were younger, otherwise you probably turned into a narcissistic, drug addled little shit that has needed “help” ever since.

I am not one for religion in particular, but there are some decent elements at the base of most, and we shall be focusing on one of these humanistic levels for the next iPad.

Sure, the new version is likely to feature some nice features, but they will mainly be inside the device and we hope will more than make up for a lack of a new coat.

So what will be inside the new iPad 3?

You know Apple do not tell a thing prior to releases so let us do some fortune telling here.

Now according to iLounge’s Jeremy Horwitz, he has touched and smelt the iPad 3 at CES 2012 over in Las Vegas. But we all know that Apple are not showing at the event.

So are people using the new iPad 3 unwittingly, if so, this sounds like it could be a bit of a lacklustre update visually, so what is going on underneath?

Well if rumours are to be believed the new iPad will be 1mm thicker with an improved camera to the top left corner, rumours of a smaller display were neither agreed nor shown as proof, but there has been talk.

iPad 3 due March 2012 – iPad 4 due Q4 2012?

With all this in mind, we would like to point you to our other article on the iPad 3 release date, that predicted pretty much the equivalent of an iPhone 4S update to the iPhone 4 for the next model of iPad, with a much bigger release of the iPad 4 to be expected later this year or early in 2013.

I also think that a price cut may be on the cards, and the new iPad 3 may sell for $100 less than it costs now, simply in order to stay competitive in this marketplace that Apple so desperately want to dominate.

Apple may decide to reintroduce the ageing iPad 2 as a reduced $299 offering after the rumoured iPad 3 launch later this month.

With Apple looking to offer two or more iPad models, the release of the iPad 3 is expected to be in the next few weeks at the iWorld expo on January the 26th-28th, we hear that this new model may mean that the current iPad 2 will come in at a lower price as a result, and that the iPad 3 may come in two variations also.

The new iPad 3 is rumored to be coming with a 9.7 inch QXGA screen and a display resolution of some 2048 x 1536 with an A6 SoC.

But there is talk that this new iPad may have a slightly weaker cousin with a less able camera and poorer quality screen, with subtle differences such as the lower priced model having only a 5 MP camera, and using a 1024 x 768 resolution while the more expensive iPad will have an 8MP offering, exactly what else will be added to the new model remains to be seen.

Apple supply chains confirm that the current iPad 2 will probably be slashed in price:

With the talk of a reduced price iPad, this should allow Apple to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire, which it is thought ate into around 2 million lost iPad sales over the festive period. Yes Apple are scared of the e-commerce monster, and so they should be.

There is also a rumour emerging that they may bring in another cut price version of the iPad 3 or iPad 2 with only 8GB of memory to really compete on price with the likes of the Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes and Noble Nook and expected Google Tablet.

iPad 3 to be $100 cheaper iPad 4 to arrive with killer applications later:

It is also thought that the new iPad 3 could be due a price reduction form the flagship high process that their current models command, and there is also an even more juicy rumour that an iPad 4 could be due for release at the end of the year with a serious upgrade to the operating system and “killer” applications.

Are you looking forward to the new iPad 3, or more interested in the serious upgrade that the iPad 4 may prove to be later on in the year?

We have already discussed the iPad 3 release date in an earlier article. Now rumours seem to suggest it will arrive at a similar time as we predicted, or at least we will see a glimpse of it around the time we originally anticipated.

Digitimes, the perennial gossip mongers of the tech world have got their knitting needles out again, and they are talking of a return by Apple to a show now known as iWorld which was formerly MacWorld Expo.

At the show, which will be held next year on January 26th, Apple are rumored by supply chain partners to be demonstrating their new cut price iPad, and the new iPad 3, where these new models will join the rest of the iBrigade.

iPad 3 and iPoor 1?

The new models will see the cheaper version pitched against plucky contenders such as the Amazon Kindle Fire, and the other iPad 3 obviously holding the Apple flag high, as the kind of the tablet jungle.

Specification updates:

Processors are still rumoured to be supplied by Samsung, with Sharp delivering the new improved display that will still feature the same 9.7 inch screen.

There could be dual LED bars that will help brighten the iPads overall brightness levels. This rumour appears to have legs as Minebea are now part of this supply chain and they specialise in Backlight units (BLU’s)

Battery’s to be monsters:

Dynapack International Technology and Simplo Technology have secured orders for batteries of the iPad, with the rumour that one at least will have a very high capacity of 14,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) which will be used in the new iPad’s. Though we are not sure if one of these manufacturers will make a less powerful battery for the cut price model.

What do you think of the news? A tall story? Or, like us, can you imagine that this could have some weight?

Let us know your thoughts on the new iPad 3. And if you have heard anything remotely sounding like the truth, get in touch and let us know!

Yes, the iPad 3 release date rumors are coming thick and fast, we have already given you an overview on some important areas that may help the release date of the iPad 3 to be in February. However these are all well and truly firmly entrenched in “rumouville” for now.

So when will the next generation iPad 3 be released?

Asking this question to a group of technology journalists will get you a mixed bag of replies, some will tell you as we did, that a February iPad 3 release is on the cards, others will go with the sands of time and state that the likely date for the unveiling of the product will be in Mid-march, with an imminent release, what ever the outcome, the likelihood is a pre mid 2012 date, that is to say it should be in stores before June/July 2012 if the past is anything to go by.

And let us face it, while Apple can shock us on many occasions the release date of the iPad 3 is something that they are less likely to play with for effect.

iPad 3 Commercial

Please now take a look at the new pre-release teaser here :)…ok, so this is a send up, but enjoy:

iPad 3 features?

Yes the device looks like it has no rim and is transparent! Maybe Apple have got themselves access to that amazing new technology called Graphene, read “What is Graphene” here to enlighten yourself. But, I digress, while that device looks sweet, I doubt that this will be the new iPad 3, in looks anyway, as this video is a pure concept video by a person? calling themselves Dakota Adney, using a little bit of After effects and such like I imagine.

A Better Camera?

Citi analyst Richard Gardner would argue that the new iPad may not look transparent and rimless but it could well have a new camera, talking of the release date he states that:

“There do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining,”

With cameras on the iPad 2 being pretty average for anything other than facetime, the camera area is one that can be upped quite easily and would help them gain a bit more respect in this department.

“Both cameras on the iPad 2 are horrible, sure, they work for FaceTime and such, but the results are pitiful. While tablets are still unwieldy for taking pictures, most of the competition is fielding tablets with 3- and 5-megapixel cameras. I don’t imagine I’ll be using a tablet for most photo-taking needs, but having a decent one on board wouldn’t hurt.”

Wrote Eric Zeman at Information Week.

So will the design change?

While it is very possible a new racial design could see the light of day, I doubt very much that we will see anything more than a few tweaks here and there in this release, make it lighter, more powerful, and simply up the specifications all round. I see probably nothing more than an improved iPad 2 coming out on this round.

Smaller iPad release?

It seems unlikely that Apple will launch a smaller version in general, as this was something Steve Jobs was not keen on discussing prior to his death, however with the rise in popularity of the Amazon Kindle Fire there does potentially bring into light a new challenge that may need to be overcome, and may force Cupertino to release a cut-price version of the iPad, whether this will mean “smaller” in size remains to be seen.

Talk of new release has not hit iPad 2 sales:

Senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray, Gene Munster, seems to believe that Apple will sell some 13.5 million iPad this December, which will be a huge 80%+ increase over the same months in 2010.

Quite amazing really, as I just advised my girlfriend to just go out and get one after she asked me if I should wait, a great thing about Apple products is that their resale value is high, so if a new model does come out quick, you should only lose about $100 or £60 ish if you get your old model sold on Ebay etc!

We will keep you posted on further iPad 3 news as we get it.

We have already given our guesstimate on the arrival and release date of the new iPad 3 in an earlier post, but we always like to keep our Apple hungry readers with up to date information related to the products they love, so here is our latest update.

Yes the latest speculation doing the rounds right now seems to suggest that Apple are looking to deliver the iPad 3 in just a couple of months time.

Business Insider have spotted notes relating to the release in a research document created by Analyst Richard Gardner.

Gardner is quoted saying:

“there do not appear to be any significant technical hurdles remaining”

(in the production of the iPad 3).

This relates to the issues with the retina display that will feature in the new iPad.

February launch date for the iPad 3:

Citing “several sources”, it would appear that the iPad 3 release date will be in February 2012, and the tablet will have a resolution twice that of the iPad 2, the fact that there appears to be no problems in producing the new retina display, means that, if true, an earlier release date than expected is very possibly on the cards.

So will a February release still not be a bit early:

Apple usually work on a 12 months or so product life cycle, so February would appear a month or so early. However with the iPad 2 beginning to look a bit weak in the specification department, it could very possibly mean that the iPad 3 will make a slightly earlier entrance than expected.

Whatever the date, the new tablet looks set to stay the most popular tablet by manufacturer on the market.

I was in an Apple store this weekend, and let me tell you that the demand for these devices pre-Christmas was insane, with every type of person seemingly after the iPad 2, I think that 2012 will see the tablet really come of age, now they are in everyone’s parlance finally.

I am however going to suggest that the date will not be as hoped for in this article, but will more than likely still be early 2012 in a Keynote presentation the date of which has not been set, but perhaps will be mid to late March.

Are you looking forward to the arrival of the new Apple tablet? And if you own one already, what features do you hope will be brought into life with the new model?

Nikkei Business seems to have news on Apple’s future product lines.

In a recent article the newspaper has reported that the iPad 3 release will not be hitting shelves as soon as many would have liked, and unlike past versions of the iPad, a spring released is likely to be altered to a summer release for the new iPad 3.

iPhone 5 release:

And if the rumours source is to be believed then Apple’s iPhone 5 is going to be released, like its predecessor the iPhone 4S, in the fall.

Both will support LTE:

In important news for lovers of future proofing, both new devices are rumoured to be shipping with support for the new wave of wireless connectivity LTE.

This technology, in theory, should offer improved speeds and durability in terms of signal loss, and also provide end users with a faster and extremely mobile range of Apple devices.

This is once carriers are through arguing about 4G (LTE) in the UK and an overall roll out becomes more widespread globally.

With trials of 4G in the UK currently being trialled by o2.

Verizon and some other carriers in the US and globally already offer 4G, but it is not currently widespread by any means.

Apple to take the hit for redundant technology:

Now if the devices were to be shipped with full support for LTE, would Apple be happy to include this as standard when there is no clear roll out planned for much of the US, the UK and wide areas of Europe and Asia.

Would Apple really be happy sourcing the technology and including this as standard at a potential loss in profits, or would an optional LTE version be available for a price, meaning they could omit the new modem from the new range when not wanted, saving cash?

This much we can not tell. But it looks very likely that LTE will be a considered option which is good news for the new iOS range of devices and consumers.

LTE technology issues:

With various regions of the globe looking to deliver LTE on different frequency spectrum’s, Apple could have a tough time right now in making sure that their products work globally on every network when such variations occur.

Qualcomm LTE modem:

Though there could be a solution in the new Qualcomm LTE modem which is rumoured to be able to support every standard going and should therefore be a perfect modem choice for the new range of iOS and tablet devices.

It is thought that the iPad3 will be released in early-mid 2012, based on the following news about Sharp displays, with many saying that the first half of the year is more likely than the second, though clear dates on this are as of yet unknown.

Sharp to produce new iPad displays:

Sharp seem likely to be the company of choice when Apple come to upgrade their iPad display in the new iPad 3.

The Kameyama 2 plant which is owned by Sharp will be manufacturing the screens.

Sharp are already the manufacturer of choice for the displays in the iPhone 4S.

Apple are reportedly investing in Sharp’s Japanese production arm to make sure that it can meet the growing demand for the smartphone and tablets that they produce.

This news seems to suggest that the iPad will be getting a full release before mid 2012.

Display resolution to quadruple:

Currently the iPad offers a pretty reasonable but not genre beating 1024×768 display. This is likely to be increased to a much more impressive 2048×1536, which as it stands would mean that the iPad would reign as the highest resolution tablet on the market.

At this level of resolution, a 9.7 inch iPad display would deliver 264ppi, whereas current 10.1 inch displays on Android offer in the region of 150ppi, tablets would still not offer the same level of detail as smartphones, which currently offer anything up to and over 300ppi.

iPad still tablet leader:

With Apple recently proclaiming that they are not worried about the various new rival tablet contenders to hit the market. It is perhaps the fragmentation of the non Apple based tablet variety that really makes people want to stick with a stable company with a great operating system, and plenty of apps to make the experience your own.