The iPad is the prom queen of tablets 鈥� everyone wants to be as beautiful, stylish, and coveted as her. So it鈥檚 not surprising that there鈥檚 a ton of gossip devoted to the announcement of an iPad 3, expected to come out in March.
Not much is known about the iPad 3. As usual, Apple鈥檚 lips are sealed. That hasn鈥檛 kept analysts, supply-chain reporters, and enterprising bloggers from playing the speculation game. If you believed the rumors, the most obvious improvement from the iPad 2 to the iPad 3 will be the 鈥渞etina display,鈥� which would double the screen resolution for crystal-clear images and video. The Boy Genius Report (which has a pretty good record with rumors) obtained that point to a new processor that would make the iPad 3 run as fast as some desktop computers. It鈥檚 also expected that the new Apple tablet will have a much better camera than the current model. (The iPad 2 has two rather crummy cameras, including a front-facing one that鈥檚 less than one megapixel.)
Bolder predictions hypothesize that Apple will throw in blazing-fast 4G wireless Internet, sell a cheaper version of the iPad 2 for budget shoppers, and maybe introduce a 7-inch tablet that would be half the size of previous iPads. That said, despite these grand prognostications, many experts theorize that Apple won鈥檛 make too many significant changes. Don鈥檛 fix what ain鈥檛 broke.
iPad 2
Screen size: 9.7鈥�
Price: $499 to $829, depending on storage and 3G connection
Connectivity: 3G and Wi-Fi
Available: Now
iPad 3
Available: March (expected)
