The iPad 2 is the second and current generation of the iPad, a tablet computer designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It serves primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, presentations and web content, and is available in black or white. The iPad 2 has a lithium-ion polymer battery that lasts up to 10 hours, a new dual core Apple A5 processor and VGA front-facing and 720p rear-facing cameras designed for FaceTime video calling.

Apple unveiled the device on March 2, 2011, began selling it online and at retail stores on March 11,^]and released it in 25 other countries on March 25, including Western Europe, Australia and Canada. iPad 2 was released in Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and other countries on April 29, 2011.

History

Apple sent invitations to journalists on February 23, 2011 for a media event on March 2. Apple CEO Steve Jobs revealed the device at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 2, 2011, despite being on medical leave.

Apple began selling the iPad 2 on its website on March 11, and in its U.S. retail stores at 5 pm local time on that date. Many stores in major cities, such as New York, sold out within hours. Online shipping delays had increased to three to four weeks on Sunday and four to five weeks by Tuesday. One analyst predicted that Apple would sell 35 million iPad 2s in 2011.

The iPad 2 was released internationally in 25 other countries on March 25, 2011. The countries included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Apple announced that the iPad 2 will be released in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and other countries in April 2011.

The March 25 release date for Japan was postponed due to the earthquake and tsunami which struck the entire nation on March 11, 2011. The iPads may be delayed due to the NAND flash storage chip used in the iPads being created by Toshiba, which has been affected by the earthquake and tsunami and has closed indefinitely. The slowdown caused analysts to downgrade Apple's stock.

Software

Main article: iOS

The iPad 2 uses the iOS 5 software that was released on October 12, 2011 and is supposed to bring over 200 new user features including Notification Center, iMessage, and an updated notifications system, using a new "banner" style instead of the originally used pop-up "alert" style. The iPad 2 comes with Photo Booth, an application in which users can take photos and effects on them. The iPad 2 also adds to capability to support GarageBand, iMovie, and the iWork apps Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. These applications do not come with the iPad but are instead official applications from Apple sold within the App Store.

A Sony executive described the iPad as "a game console disguised as a device that can be appropriated in the business workplace".


Hardware

See also: iPad#Hardware

The iPad 2 includes a new A5 processor, front and rear cameras plus a 3 axis gyroscope. Several components were made smaller to fit the new iPad.

Screen and input

Both original iPad and iPad 2 have four physical switches, including a home button near the display that returns the user to the main menu, and three plastic physical switches on the sides: wake/sleep, volume up/down, and a third switch for either screen rotation lock or mute. The home button on the iPad 2 is "easier to double tap" than the previous generation of the iPad.

Apple reduced the size of the iPad by eliminating the stamped sheet metal frame from the display, integrating new thinner glass technology for the touch screen overlay, and slightly reducing the space between the display and battery. The iPad 2's screen is thinner, lighter, and yet stronger than the original iPad's. The iPad 2 also supports screen mirroring via the digital AV adapter., and through AirPlay as of iOS 5.

Airplay

Airplay is a feature built in to iOS. It allows the iPad to stream videos, photos or audio from any Airplay enabled app to Apple TV, an Airport Express unit or to some third party speakers. Some built in apps such as Photos, Videos and iTunes are AirPlay compatible.

Power

The iPad has a 25 w·h rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery that lasts 10 hours, like the original iPad. It is charged via USB or included 10 W, 2 Apower adapter. The battery is 2.5 mm thick, 59% smaller than the original and has three cells instead of two. The improvements allowed the injection-molded plastic support frame to be omitted. The 10 W USB power adapter provides 4x the power of a conventional USB port.

Cameras

The revised tablet adds front- and rear-facing cameras, which allow FaceTime video calls with the iPhone 4, fourth-generation iPod Touch and Macintoshcomputers (running Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later with a webcam). The 0.3 MP front camera shoots VGA-quality 30 frame/s video and VGA-quality still photos. The 0.7 MP back camera can shoot 720p HD video at 30 frame/s and has a 5x digital zoom. Both shoot photo in a 4:3 fullscreen aspect ratio. The rear camera shoots video in 16:9 widescreen to match the 720p standard, although only the central 4:3 part of the recording is shown on the screen during recording. The forward facing camera shoots in 4:3.

Apple A5 processor

The iPad 2 added a dual core Apple A5 processor that Apple claims doubles processing speed and has graphics processing that is up to nine times faster than the previous iPad.

iPad with 3G + Wi-Fi

3G versions of the iPad 2 offer CDMA2000 support for customers using the device on a CDMA network or GSM/UMTS support for customers using the device on a GSM/UMTS network. 3G service for iPad is available from the following carriers:

§  Australia: Optus, Telstra and Vodafone.

§  Canada: Bell, MTS, Rogers, Sasktel, Telus and Virgin Mobile.

§  Europe: 3, KPN, Movistar, Mobistar, NetCom, O2, Orange, Proximus, SFR, Swisscom, T-Mobile, Tango, Tele2, Telenor, Telia, TDC, TIM, TMN andVodafone.

§  United States: AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless.

The iPad Wi-Fi + 3G model includes an A-GPS receiver for tracking the user's location given permission. Also, the iPad 2 3G model includes a plastic cap-like band at the top on the back for the 3G antenna. The metallic grille for the microphone is replaced with a matching plastic black grille on the 3G model.

Size and weight

The device is 15% lighter and 33% thinner than the original iPad; it is thinner than the iPhone 4 by 0.5 mm.

The Wi-Fi version is 1.33 lb (600 g). Both the GSM and CDMA versions (known respectively as the AT&T and Verizon versions in the US) differ in weight slightly due to the mass difference between the GSM and CDMA cellular radios, with the GSM model at 1.35 lb (612 g) and the CDMA model at 1.34 lb (608 g). The size of the iPad 2 is also less than the original iPad at only 9.50×7.31×0.34 in (241.2×185.7×8.8 mm), compared to the original iPad's size at 9.56×7.47×0.5 in (242.8×189.7×13.4 mm).