Steve Jobs launches iPad 2: key features at a glance, NZ launch date

UPDATED Thursday March 3, 7.40am: Unfortunately, NBR's jet is in the shop, but here are the at-glance highlights from Apple's iPad 2 launch in San Francisco:

• Steve Jobs (still on open-ended medical leave) personally hosted the launch. He looked extremely thin, yet energetic (check out Apple's official event video here).
• New Zealand release will be March 25
• iPad 2 is 33% thinner
• 15% lighter (601g to the iPad 1's 720g, which made it just too much of an elbow-bender for reading e-books in bed)
• Same screen size as iPad 1 (9.7-inches).
• Resolution is also the same as the original iPad: 1024 x 768
• Front-and-rear cameras have been added for video conferencing (which can also capture stills), closing a feature gap with Android tablets
• The cameras capture video at up to 720p HD resolution
• FaceTime video calling app, PhotoBooth have been added
• Jobs claims the dual core A5 processor will be twice as fast, and render graphics up to nine times as fast, as iPad 1's A4
• Garageband will be available for iPad 2 via the iTunes AppStore
• A gyroscope - a la iPhone and iPod Touch - has been added
• A cover has been added, with a built-in microfibre cloth. It lifts on and off, by dint of magnets. It wakes the iPad 2 wen you remove it, and puts it to sleep when you replace it.
• Accessories include an HDMI dongle ($US39) that lets you connect an iPad 2 to an HD TV. Full HD 1080p output
• HSUPA support for faster 3G upload speeds but there's no HSPA+ or 4G/LTE support
• Anyone hoping for Flash support seems out of luck
• Claimed battery life is the same as iPad 1 - 10 hours
• Memory options are the same as iPad 1 - 16GB, 32GB or 64GB
• US launch will be March 11 with 26 countries two weeks later (NZ March 25)
• US pricing for non-3G models is same as iPad 1: $US499 16GB, $US599 32GB, $US699 64GB
• NZ pricing won't be announced until closer to launch
• Official US launch site is here

ABOVE: Apple's official video.

iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch software upgraded
Apple has also used today's launch to unveil iOS 4.3. This new version of it operating system software debut with the iPad 2, and also be available for iPhone and iPod Touch.

Key iOS 4.3 features include iTunes home sharing, a personal hotspot featre, and faster web browsing performance.

The personal hotspot feature lets you share an iPhone 4 mobile data connection (owners of other models are out of luck) with up to five devices in a combination of up to three Wi-Fi, three Bluetooth and one USB device.

If you own an Apple TV, iOS 4.3's AirPlay support will let you stream video (clips video on third-party websites), music and photos from your iPad to your television.

Sorry anyone who was looking for a concurrent announcemnt that the Mobile Me synching service would be made free, and become part of a new "cloud" version of iTune. That did not happen.

ELSEWHERE:

Ars Technica: Hands on photos with the iPad 2, reader questions answered
Technologizer: A look at iOS 4.3
Engadget: iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. HP TouchPad vs. BlackBerry PlayBook: the tale of the tape

WEDNESDAY March 2: It's now just hours until Apple's San Francisco launch event tomorrow - which has no officially disclosed agenda for happening, to be held at the Yerba Buena Center, but is widely anticipated to be the launch of the second-generation iPad - the better to clear the decks ahead of the iPhone 5 launch that will inevitably follow (just check out the timeline of previous releases) in June or July. (Pictured right: Steve Jobs at the iPad 1 launch).

Live blogs
The event will kick off at 10am Wednesday March 2, US Pacific Time (7am Thursday March 3 NZ time). An army of bloggers will cover the event live. NBR's pick is Technogizer's Harry McCracken, whose live blog will be posted here; Engadget's live coverge is here.

Already, the hype is out of control.

This afternoon, for example, the Sydney Morning Herald felt the need to tweet the latest photo from its correspondent in San Francisco – which showed, well, a man sitting on the steps outside the event centre where the launch will take place tomorrow.

The very stairs!

Big lead
Since its April launch, Apple has sold around 15 million iPads - including more than 7 million in the December quarter alone.

Although it faces putative competition from Google Android-based tablets (with Windows 7, BlackBerry OS and HP Palm WebOS tablets on the way), the iPad still pretty much has the stage to itself - and, crucially, a huge and possibly unassailable lead in content. There is no huge pressure to add a big-bang new feature.

What to expect
It's a given that the second iPad will have incremental hardware upgrades, such as a better screen (possibly full HD, matching recent Android models released in the US).

But beyond that all bets are off. As usual, Apple has kept details tightly under wraps.

But that hasn't stopped fans from bandying a  wish-list of features, ranging from the still and video cameras so conspicuously absent from the Skype-hostile iPad, to a simple USB port or (rock and roll!) and SD card slot.

And, leaving hardware specs aside, a small army of publishers - and readers - would appreciate it if the iPad 2 launch was also used as an opportunity to announce a detente with Adobe over Flash.

But don't hold your breath on that one.

Tomorrow, all will be revealed.

And, who knows, Steve Jobs might turn up too.