iPad 3 Release Date

The ‘New iPad’ is ready and will be available in the stores from March 16th 2012. As the rumor mill takes a breather, it is time to take stock of the new features that will be available. The big surprise is the name of this third-generation iPad. It is neither called iPad 3 nor iPad HD. Apple stumped everyone by calling it ‘the new iPad’. It features the touted retina display with a resolution of 2048 X 1536. This translates into 3.1 million pixels, a million more than an HDTV. Now imagine the visual treat on offer! Apple aptly calls it ‘the best mobile display ever’.

Till a few days back the web was buzzing if the new iPad features an A5X processor or an A6 processor? Now we know that it’s an A5X processor. It is a dual-core processor with quad-core graphics. According to Apple, A5X GPU is twice powerful than iPad2 and four times more powerful that Nvidia’s Tegra 3. Thus the A5X quad-core graphics deliver all those 3.1 million pixels with the same smoothness and makes swiping, scrolling etc incredibly responsive.

‘The new iPad’ doesn’t feature an 8 mega-pixel camera. But it comes with an ‘iSight’ camera which has a 5-mega pixel sensor, auto focus, five-element lens, exposure functions and face recognition. Add to these the amazing software that helps in editing your pictures. The ‘iSight’ camera can capture HD videos in 1080p. It is no coincidence that Apple also introduced an updated Apple TV which can now display full HD content.

‘The new iPad’ supports 4G LTE for faster web experience. All those extra pixels, quad-core graphics and LTE battery are not going to affect the batter life and the new iPad can last up to 10 hours in standard and 9 hours with 4G enabled. Now coming to the big question – price. Apple keeps the pricing of the ‘new iPad’ unchanged. Wi-Fi enabled 16GB base model starts at $499 and the high-end 64GB 4G enabled model costs $829. And as expected Apple is giving 16GB Wi-Fi iPad2 at $399, a discount of $100. The new iPad features a smart cover. Not only does it protect from dust and scratches it is smart enough to wake and sleep with a simple open and close. It just sums up Apple’s attention to detail. So are you ready to pre-order ‘the new iPad’?  Was it as good as you were expecting, if not what do you think is missing?

Check out new pics of the iPad 3 here.

It is official. Apple will be showcasing iPad 3 to the world on March 7^th. Apple distributed the invites to select media for the big event to be held at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10 AM PST. The invite per se does not list any of the features. But as always with anything associated with Apple, the invitation is being scrutinized to find any hidden clues. This makes sense as Apple does everything for a reason with attention to even minute details.

The invite shows a display that is of much higher quality than an iPad 2. The Web is buzzing with pictures comparing the invite picture with an iPad 2 featuring the same apps. A higher resolution display can be easily distinguished and this might very well confirm the retina display.

The invite says “We have something you really need to see. And touch”. If the “see” is a clue for retina display, what is it with ‘touch’? Interestingly the display on the invite doesn’t feature a physical home button. Analysts view the absence of this Home button got to do something with the ‘touch’. Absence of home button is from the observation that the invitation shows the device in portrait mode, which is deduced based on the spacing between the apps featured on the invite display. It is surprising how and why Apple missed the ‘hearing’ part of iPad 3 in the invite! Is it deliberate to surprise us or does it mean no Siri integration on iPad 3? Come March 7^th we can ‘feel’ the iPad 3 with all our senses.

Images via Gizmodo

Apple’s Q1 results were historic and the company became the number one PC vendor in the world. It comfortably beats the runner-up in every aspect. All these encouraging events are setting the stage for a grand release of iPad3. But a recent development can throw a spanner in the works. A last minute trade dispute between Apple and a company named Proview could delay the release of iPad 3.

Proview Technology is a cash-strapped Chinese company that is fighting a legal battle over the iPad name. The company claims ownership of the trademark in China and it recently asked Chinese customs bureau to stop imports and exports of iPad. According to Apple, the company has already acquired Proview’s rights to the iPad trademark in 10 countries including China.

Analysts believe that this legal battle is Proview’s last minute effort to extract maximum compensation from Apple. It is demanding $1.6 billion compensation. Apple could get stuck between a rock and a hard place. It cannot afford to leave Chinese market which is the next biggest market after U.S. A last minute change of the tablet name is also out of the equation as all the prefixes of ‘Pad’ from A to Z are already registered. The next hearing is scheduled for February 29^th and Apple might be hoping to get rid of this final hurdle. Any unfavorable ruling might just delay the launch of iPad3.

Holding a press event in October tells us that this is Apple’s last even for 2011. And since all the talk circled around the iPhone, it’s not rocket science to guess that there’s no chance in hell consumers will be able to but an iPad 3 off store shelves this holiday season. However, rumors still can play on the chance that Apple would release a modified iPad 2, albeit shinier and prettier. Whether it would sport a spec boost or just a shiny case, the event is still short of something as big as the iPad 3. There are a lot of reasons why Apple would opt to delay the release of the much-awaited next gen iPad.

First, the iPad2 still outsells the competition. While Android tablets seem to be competing for the same minority marketshare, the HP TouchPad sold so bad that it was canceled. Meanwhile, Amazon is about to launch a tablet which doesn’t even plan to compete with the iPad. In other words, there is no reason for Apple to hurry releasing an improvement to something that sells, and sells very well. Many have speculated that because the iPad 2 was no more than a mere revision, Apple may have been secretly working of a new and revolutionary iPad design that is sure to awe even the Apple skeptics. They think that with more than a year being kept secret, the redesign should surely be ready by now. But just like all assumptions, the frequency it is talked about will not turn it into fact. Apple’s concern is the holiday shoppers looking forward to buy whether the existing iPad2 or the coming iPad3. The fear that they might buy something that would immediately be replaced by a newer model, the very exact scenario that happened with the iPad. But Apple can avoid this dilemma with an improved iPad2 to serve as a buffer or an intermediate iPad. This could be a transitional iPad from iPad2 to the iPad3. This is what Apple may exactly end up doing, although quietly. Whatever happens, you shouldn’t expect to see the iPad 3 before the year ends.

Even if you wish for it as hard as you can, you are not getting an iPad 3 this year. Even if Apple’s stock closed at an impressive $411.63, and even if Apple seems to amaze everybody by continuing to release impressive tech, it is bound to disappoint millions of past and would-be consumers with the delay of the third iPad.

With a 9.7 inch display capable of resolutions up to 2048 x 1536, the iPad 3 is a feast for those who used the device as their only source of media entertainment. It is also rumored to utilize the retina display technology similarly used on the iPhone 4. If consumers are to be considered as guides, it is not hard to guess that the next generation tablet should be something lighter and slimmer than the previous ones. If it were the same, what’s the point?

According to Digitimes of Taiwan, Apple cancelled some component orders from Sharp, Samsung and LG sometime in August. These orders were supposedly intended for a iPad 3 launch this year. While this cancellation is no indicator of, this combined with other factors make it likely that consumers can only get their hands on an iPad3 in the middle of 2012.

To make the display sharper and brighter than the previous iPad, serious consideration should be put on the mobile chip processor. This has to be powerful enough to run the backlighting source, but efficient enough not to drain the battery power so quickly. Unfortunately, the iPad 2s’ chip, the A5, fails to meet this standard. On the other hand, the quad-core A6 can do this task. But according to the Linley Group, this mobile processor will not be ready until 2012.

According to Mark Moskowitz of JP Morgan -

“We do not expect iPad 3 this year, but there’s no rush. The other tablet entrants have stumbled. Offerings by MMI [Motorola Mobility] and RIM have been the latest disappointments. Also, we had the opportunity to demo Sony’s tablet before its launch. We were not impressed. Sony’s tablet lacks the refined, sleek feel of the iPad. We felt that the sloping or bezel-like back of the Sony tablet feels more like petrified, folded-over pages than a 21st century consumer electronics device.”

Apple tablets have been responsible for the sudden move of consumers to opt for tablet PCs instead of traditional desktop PCs, notebooks and laptops. Considered as one of the most revolutionary pieces of technology, this device has put the Internet easily within the access and grasp of every iPad user. This device constitutes 75 percent of the market share, boasting almost 3 million units sold in less than three months and almost 15 billion shipped last year.

If the following rumours turn out to be true im sure we could see even bigger riots than what we have seen over the last few weeks here in London. Sources (which are mostly unreliable) report that the iPad 3 & iPhone 5 wont be available until 2012. Personally i dont see this too much of a surprise as i pointed out in a few previous articles my thoughts on the unlikelyhood of a 2011 release.

While most of the rumours you will read on the net are merely fabricated out of thin air, there is one report that does hold some ground. Taiwan Economic News have reported the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co who manufacture the forthcoming A6 processors (which will power the iPad 3) are only currently in testing phase and wont be completed until early 2012. It is more than likely the iPad 3 will run on the A6 processors and if so it means we wont see the iPad 3 until at least Q2 2012.

A few other, less reliable, rumours claim Apple will release all of its forthcoming next-gen devices in March 2012. It appears that the date set for an iPhone 5 release this September has now changed slightly and will instead be a new affordable iPhone which analysts believe is an attempt at Apple trying to tap into the mid range mobile device market.

This is a clever move by Apple, they are well aware of their huge loyal following of fanboys & girls that will buy new Apple products all year round. Offering a cheaper iPhone this Christmas will allow the people on a budget to become part of the Apple family.

These are all just rumours that dont have much factual backing to them, however an iPad 3 release in 2011 would never have been a good move in Apple’s eye’s. The iPad 2 is still selling well and it would have certainly p**sed a few customers off having just bought the iPad 2 only to see it being outdated a few months after purchase.

With the recent injunction awarded to Apple to prohibit the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 in the EU which is the iPad 2′s biggest competition to be released to date, there doesnt seem to be much pressure on Apple to release the iPad 3 this year.

An iPad 3 release date doesn’t seem likely in 2011, only Steve Jobs knows the answer…