苹果推出iPad 2

After receiving a standing ovation from an enthusiastic group of technology journalists, Apple CEO Steve Jobs briefly interrupted his medical leave to unveil the latest version of the company's breakthrough tablet computer: the iPad 2.

This iPad seems to have exceeded everyone's wish lists. It's thinner and lighter than the previous model, 拥有更强大的处理器, 包含前置和后置摄像头, 并保持相同的价格.

iPad 2的尺寸为8.8毫米厚，而13毫米厚.第一代iPad长4毫米. 就连iPhone 4也比9英寸厚.5mm. 它重1.3 pounds, compared to the original iPad at 1.5磅.

One of the few gripes about the original iPad was that it lacked a camera. The iPad 2 has two of them: a rear camera that takes 720p video at up to 30 frames per second and a front camera that shoots VGA video at up to 30 frames per second. Both can be used with the new FaceTime feature that iPad 2 owners can use to video chat with Mac desktop, 移动PC, 或iPhone用户. Owners can also shoot video and then edit it with the new iMovie app for iPad.

The iPad 2 is powered by a dual-core A5 processor, making it the first dual-core tablet. Jobs promised the CPU was up to two times faster and that it would handle graphics up to nine times faster.

"The graphics on this thing are wonderful," Jobs said.

Owners will enjoy the same long battery life with the iPad 2 as with the original iPad: it can run for 10 hours on a charge or last for over a month on standby.

"Adding all this stuff and making it way thinner, something has to give. You would think that it would have to give up some of the battery life. But the engineering team found a way to produce the same 10 hour battery life," said Jobs.

The iPad 2 will come in black and white models, in three Wi-Fi-only configurations and three that support 3G connections. 苹果同时提供这两种服务&T和Verizon版本的3G机型. Pricing starts at $499 and product will be available March 11 in the U.S., then in additional countries on March 25.

While many in the tech world are already calling this an incremental upgrade, 这是一次意义重大的发布. Anyone who held out buying the first iPad will be glad they waited.

Apple also introduced a helpful video accessory that lets owners connect their iPads to their HDMI-enabled TVs. The $39 HDMI video-out cable lets owners mirror their screens on their TVs and works with up to 1080p resolution.

The latest version of iOS, Apple's mobile operating system, will also be available on March 11. iOS 4.3 will offer an improved JavaScript engine for the Safari browser, letting it handle JavaScript at twice the speed. Mobile devices will gain iTunes 首页 Sharing, and AirPlay improvements will let owners stream videos or photos to their Apple TVs.

The iOS update will also let iPhone 4 owners create Wi-Fi hotspots, and will bring PhotoBooth and FaceTime apps to the iPad 2. 该更新将适用于3^rd 和图4^th 一代iPod touch也是如此.

Apple's iMovie app is getting a major makeover and will bring movie editing to the iPad. 4美元.99 app will include precision editing, over 50 sound effects, and the ability to record voice-overs. Sharing features will let owners send their videos to YouTube, Vimeo, 脸谱网, 和CNN iReport一键点击. Created videos can also be shown on Apple TVs using AirPlay.

最后, GarageBand即将登陆iPad, letting owners play virtual instruments and create songs with eight-track recording and mixing. 弹键盘的时候, the iPad 2 will recognize how firmly a key is pressed, 多亏了它的加速度计. A smart guitar option gives non-players groupings of chords that sound good together. The GarageBand app will be available March 11. 这两款应用的售价都是4美元.99.

Jobs returned at the end of the hour-long presentation to talk about the need for more intuitive devices in the post-PC era.

"Our competitors are looking at this like it's the next PC market. 这不是解决问题的正确方法. These are post-PC devices that need to be easier to use than a PC, more intuitive," Jobs said.