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The tablet market is dominating since 2010 by the Apple’s two awesome tablet and it’s iPad 2 and iPad1. To compete with the Motorola Xoom, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Blackberry PlayBook, Dell Streak 7, HTC Flyer and LG Optimus Pad, Apple recently released it’s second generation iPad that is iPad 2.

Let’s have a close look of both these tablets.

Hardware

1. iPad 2 is amazingly slim and light, it’s just 8.8 mm (0.34 inches) thin and weighs 1.33 pounds, that is 33% thinner and 15% lighter than iPad. But still the display (9.7 inches, 1024×768 pixels with IPS technology) and the body are the same (Single slab of aluminum in the back and the face is the same scratch resistance oleophobic coated glass). Only a slight different in the design, iPad 2 has angled edges. The edges are tapered to reduce weight.

2. Two cameras are new in iPad 2, a 5 MP rare camera with the capability for 720p HD video recording and a front-facing camera for video chat using FaceTime. There is no flash for the camera.

3. More powerful 1 GHz dual core A5 processor is used in iPad 2. iPad is built with 1GHz A4 processor.

4. Main memory is doubled, iPad 2 has 512 MB while iPad has only 256 MB.

Performance

1. iPad 2 offers better multitasking experience with the support of 1GHz dual core high performance A5 application processor, 512 MB RAM and the improved iOS 4.3.

2. The new A5 processor’s clock speed is twice faster than A4 and 9 times better (in practice we can expect 5 – 7 times better performance) on graphics while the power consumption remains same.

3. Excellent browsing experience – the Safari browser is improved with Nitro JavaScript engine with the iOS 4.3 upgrade. When both run iOS 4.3, iPad 2 shows about 80% better performance than iPad and pages load around 35% faster than iPad.

Apple iPad 2 will be a benchmark product in Apple’s Smartphone and Tablet Family, it gives an excellent performance.

Additional Features

1. HDMI capability – you can connect to HDTV via Apple digital AV adapter (cost an extra US$39). It has HDMI mirroring capability but mirroring is not available for video playback.

2. The new operating system iOS 4.3 has improved on some features and added additional features like iTunes home sharing, PhotoBooth, improved iMovie ($4.99 from App Store) and improved AirPlay. With improved AirPlay you can wirelessly stream your media content to HDTV or speakers via AppleTV.

3. Preference for iPad Switch to mute or for rotation lock and parental control to restrict access to some applications are two other new features in iOS 4.3.

4. New application GarageBand ($4.99 from App Store)

However iPad is also compatible with iOS 4.3 and iPad users can upgrade their OS to 4.3. Now it is iOS 4.3.1 (released 25 March 2011)

Accessories

1. Smart Cover – Apple introduces a new bendable magnatic case for iPad 2, named as Smart Cover. Which will cost an extra US $39.

2. Wireless Keyboard – a thin keyboard which can be connected over Bluetooth

3. iPad 2 Dock

Apple Digital AV adapter is same as the previous one. These accessories are not included to the box, you have to purchase these separately. iPad 1 accessories are compatible with iPad 2, however due to the reduced thickness the first generation dock won’t be an exact fit.

Availability

iPad 2 will be available in the US market from March 11th and to the global market starting from March 25th.

Check out the full spec comparison below.

Performance difference between iPad and iPad 2 depends on the iOS version differences and features with relavent hardware.

Thanks

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