New Apple iPad Unveiled- Specs, Prices and Availability in the Philippines

Apple Inc unveiled early today the next generation of their popular tablet device, the iPad. And contrary to the most common expectation that it would be called “iPad 3″ or “iPad HD”, Apple reverted back the name to simply “iPad”. The extremely rumored and anticipated unveiling was held in San Francisco before a crowd of media and tech bloggers.

The new iPad with Retina Display

New iPad Features

The predicted by many, the new iPad features a Retina Display doubling the resolution of old iPads to a stunning  2,048 X 1,536 pixel density. With this new display, Apple also upgraded their processor to A5X with quad-core graphics processor.

The rear camera is also upgraded to iSight sporting a 5MP sensor capable of capturing vivid shots and 1080p HD videos.

As anticipated, the new iPad now supports the most advanced 4G wireless mobile connectivity, the Long Term Evolution (LTE). This will enable the new iPad to download at a blazing speed of up to 73 Mbps. And of course, the new iPad is backward compatible with 3G services like HSPA etc.

Software updates and features includes the video stabilizers for minimizing vibration during video capture. A new Dictation capability which will enables the new iPad to convert voice to text (this is not Siri).

Pricing and Availability

The new iPad will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands on Friday, March 16, 2012. For the rest of us (especially here in the Philippines, we may have to wait for a little while).

The new iPad is priced starting at 499 USD for 16 GB Wifi model and 629 USD for 16GB Wifi+4G models. Apple maintained the price the same as the iPad 2 before. iPad 2 prices now has been lowed by 100 USD starting today.