Dennis Koh's Blog

iPad 2 is now official! Featuring a 1GHz dual-core A5 chip and additional camera on the front, now you can FaceTime. The new CPU is said to be up to twice as fast, with graphics performance up to nine times better than on the original iPad, and an advertised battery life of 10 hrs.

720p video recording at 30fps will be on tap from the rear-facing camera, which can also do a 5x digital zoom. The front camera records at a more modest VGA resolution, also at 30fps.

The iPad 2 comes with a new cover. Basically, it’s a magnetic flap that protects the front and automatically wakes and puts the device to sleep with the help of the proximity sensor according to whether it’s open or closed. Seems like they are not free though. The Smart cover will cost $39 in plastic or $69 if you opt for leather one.

The iPad 2 is 33 percent thinner than its predecessor measuring 8.8mm, and a little lighter at just over 600g. You have a choice of  between white and black. The iPad 2 starts shipping on March 11 2011.

Apple is launching the new iOS 4.3 for the iPad 2. The same rules apply. If your old iPad was jailbreaked, do not update to the latest iOS if you would like to keep it jailbreaked though you may miss the FaceTime since the new iOS 4.3 comes with FaceTime and Photo Booth. The minimum compatible version of iTunes for the new iPad 2 will be the freshly released 10.2.