New iPad : 265 Pixels per inch, A5X quad-core graphics and 5 MP camera

Apple has unveiled its new iPad. The launch it did, but it forgot to name the new version of the iPad, leaving a lot for speculations. Though not knowing the name is a bit of pain, iPad’s other specs have eased the pain. New iPad will sport retina display with a screen resolution of 2047 x 1536 pixels. That is 265 pixels per inch. That’s a whole lot of pixels for an inch.

Specs

New iPad comes with the same 9.7 inch screen, is 9.4 mm thick and weighs 1.4 pounds. iPad is LTE enabled for the US markets and will be available from March 16.

iPad 3 comes with a A5X dual-core processor with quad-core graphics. A godsend for gamers and graphics enthusiasts. Apple has revised its camera by many-folds with a 5 MP camera in the rear. Called as the iSight camera it takes 5MP images and is capable of 1080p video recording. Basically, the same optics system used in the iPhone 4S.

Apple didn’t improve on its battery offering. New iPad will run for 10 hours and on a 4G network for 9 hours. To me this is the only disappointing thing because a longer running iPad would have had me salivating for it and waiting eagerly for its India launch.

No Siri : New iPad doesn’t come with the sexy voice assistant Siri, but comes with voice dictation in four languages : English, German, French and Japanese.

It’s all about the display

To me, it has all about the display. The 5 MP camera is a good addition but iPad isn’t really for taking pictures and also the most convenient of the devices to take pictures. Apple has packed in some serious punches by concentrating on the display. Now it’s miles ahead of its competition, not that its competition is catching up.

At 2047 x 1536 pixels, iPad is the only device which packs in 264 pixels in an inch. That is a total of 3.1 million total pixels with 40% better color saturation. The resolution is much better than many HDTVs out there. How much better? iPad 3 packs in at least 1 million more pixels than a HDTV.

Price

iPad WiFi version : $499 (16 GB), $599 (32GB), $699 (64 GB)

iPad 4G Version : $629 (16 GB), $729 (32GB), $829 (64 GB)

Finally

Apple has upgraded its apps like GarageBand and iWork to retina display. A new app called iPhoto is released. The app costs $4.99.

To me display is the biggest attraction on the new iPad. A better battery would have been a big surprise but Apple chose to keep its incremental innovation intact by concentrating on the display, and the processor. And iPad is slowly transforming into a device that is meant for producing and not just consuming.

Is there something iPad 3 can do which iPad 2 can’t do? To me, there isn’t any. But for the purists, the extra pixels on the screen, and the faster processor could mean a lot. What about you?

PS : iPad 2 now costs $399. Which I think should see another price drop in the so-called competitors tablet prices.