5.16 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Apple's iPad 3 may already be in production in China

Published
By Vicky Kapur

Rumour has it that Apple Inc. is planning to release the already famous iPad 3 in late February to commemorate its deceased founder Steve Jobs on his birthday.

A Bloomberg report claims that the next iPad is already in production at factories in China. The report adds that the next iPad will have a more impressive screen than TVs, faster video graphics and Long Term Evolutionary (4G) capabilities.

Chinese dailies are buzzing with news that Apple is rushing production of its iPad 3 in the hopes of releasing it on February 23, just in time for Steve Jobs’ birthday, on February 24. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that alleged iPad 3 home buttons have begun floating around in China town, which means that the final product is being slapped together as you read this.

Siri, the virtual assistant which made its debut on the iPhone 4S, may also be included in the device.

Various sites have conflicting reports on the tablet's design, with sources divided over whether the iPad 3 will be thinner, thicker or the same size as the iPad 2.

Apple has not responded to these claims.

Last month, citing multiple inside sources, China’s Economic Daily News speculated that the big date has been set and the first shipment amount of the tablet will be 4 million units.

Local assemblers including Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co, Genius Electronic Optical Co and several others will have shorter Spring Festival holidays, estimated at five days, in order to rush the work, the newspaper said.

Just to remind our readers, Apple unveiled the iPad on January 27, 2010 and the iPad2 on March 3, 2011. So perhaps early 2012 seems about the right time to launch the third version of the legendary iPad. Add a dead founder and his birthday, and the date should be correct. Or maybe not. Watch this space.

iPad 3: Some known facts (and rumours)

So you think you know what’s coming in the box labelled 'The legendary but new iPad 3'? Here’s what we know:

Retina display

A ‘Retina’ display has been predicted for the iPad 3 (it was also rumoured for iPad 2, but never materialized). What’s retina display? Good question. It’s something that the iPhone 4 and 4S sport – it will double the current iPad’s resolution to 2048-by-1536. Do we really want it? Oh yes, please…

Tap and transfer

NFC, or Near Field Communications, is something that is kind of revolutionizing (well, almost) the ailing Nokia. It’s the technology (akin to Bluetooth) that allows transfer of data on the tap of two (willing and enabled) devices. So me thinks that the iPad 3 bundle could be hiding an NFC chip in its belly, just to hit Nokia under it, for the effect. Apple’s very interested in Near Field Communications, and one delicious gossip sez iPhone 5 (whenever, whatever) will use NFC to take over nearby Macs, enabling you to use your data and settings with a flick of the wrist (a la Rajnikant).

A6 Processor

Apple has debuted new processors with every version of the iPad (basically, two) so far – and that has led people to believe that it will divorce the current A5 and upgrade to younger and more beautiful (technically speaking) A6. But whether the A6 is a dual-core processor like its previous partner A5, or comes with two additional cylinders (aka quad-core processor), we’ll need to wait and see.

Perhaps it’s a bit late for Apple Inc. to incorporate everything, but if you are listening, here are some other things on our wish list for the iPad 3:

- A smaller dock connector, pretty puhleez

- More storage

- A Thunderbolt port (borrowed from its cousins, 2011 MacBook Pro and MacBook Air)

- An SD card slot

- A better camera

- Gesture controls (Sony’s done it, GMail’s doing it, why can’t you, Apple?)