Apple unveils faster 4G iPad

The next-generation tablet, dubbed “the new iPad”, will feature a high definition screen, faster processor and an improved camera, when it hits UK stores next Friday (March 16).

New Ipad

The product will be the same price as the previous model, costing £399 for the most basic version.

Speaking at the launch event in San Francisco yesterday (March 7) Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, referred to the device as the “new model” rather than the iPad 3.

He added that the technology market is now in the middle of a post PC revolution, with more iPads being sold in the final quarter of 2011 than any individual PC manufacturer sold of their PC devices in the same quarter.

Apple claims it sold 15.4 million iPads in Q4, while rivals HP and Lenovo sold 15.1 million and 13.1 million units respectively over the same period.

Cook said: “We are taking it [iPad’s development] to a whole new level and are redefining the category that Apple created with the original iPad. We think the iPad is the poster child of the post-PC world.”

Last year, a total of 3.62 million people owned a tablet device in the UK, with Apple taking a 73% share of the domestic market, according to research from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech in September.

The company emphasised the importance of bespoke apps developed by brands in its success over rival devices, which it claims either don’t have the apps or have only “blown-up smartphone apps.”

Apple also announced that movies purchased on iTunes will be accessible via its iCloud service from any of its devices, including an upgraded Apple TV HD set-top box. Both will launch alongside the new iPad device next week.

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