Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stagein San Francisco Wednesday to announce a new iPad. In fact, he just called it simply "the new iPad." It will have a quad-core chip, "retina" high-resolution display, a 5-megapixelcamera and 4G LTE networking for fast connection on Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
The product will have the same pricing as the previous generation, starting at $499. It will be in stores on March 16, but pre-orders start today
Apple will keep the iPad 2 in the picture: There will be a 16GB iPad 2 for $399, and a 3G version of that for$629. There are no longer any 32GB or 64GB versions of the iPad 2.
The display has 2048 x 1536 pixels. That's over 3.1 million pixels, "the most ever on a mobile devices," says Phil Schiller, worldwide marketing boss.
The new iPad will have an A5X chip, which is a quad-core processor. It delivers four times the performance of the iPad 2.
The camera on the new iPad has a 5-megapixel center, optics with an IR filter, and some nice controls to maximize picture taking. As you may expect from the camera and the screen, you can shoot 1080p video with this baby.
There's voice-to-text for emails and other text-input windows, but it doesn't look like there's full-blown Sirihere, which seems odd. The voice is some guy's voice, not the sultry Siri we've come to know (in the U.S.).
Cook called the iPad the "poster child of the post-PC era," and says that for most users, it's the preferred device for email, Web browsing, e-reading and gaming, activities previously doneby a range of competing products.
Product demos for the new iPad showgame previews from Namco and Epic games, and a Sketchbook update from Autodesk. (Not much to say now, but when we have video of the demos, we'll share.)
There's a whole new iWork and iLife out, a free update to people who already have. The new Garage Band has a Jam Session feature for simultaneous play by musicians with their own iPads.
Best of all, iPhoto finally came to the iPad, with all kinds of finger-friendly features. The controls really are cool, and you can beam photos from device to device. Crazier still, the iPhoto stuff will work on iPhone too. It will cost $4.99, and you can get it today.
The first big announcement was the new Apple TV, which supports 1080p video and has an all-new user interface. Eddie Cue, head of Internet services, hit the stage to demo it. It's available next week and will still cost$99.More on the new Apple TV here.
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