USA TODAY: The iPad that Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced Wednesday is faster and offers a dramatically sharper display but otherwise looks quite similar to past iPads. And whether the new iPad will appeal strictly to folks who haven’t yet bought one is a key question facing the iconic company as it launches its first major new product since the 2011 death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple is increasingly dependent on “post-PC devices” — including the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch — which accounted for 76% of its revenue last year…
The third-generation iPad — just plain “iPad” rather than the iPad 3 that some expected — adds several souped-up and highly anticipated features. Among them: a far crisper display, zippier processor, voice dictation and the ability to tap into the fastest 4G wireless data networks…
As with the previous iPad, the new iPad starts at $499 for a Wi-Fi-only model with 16 gigabytes of storage and jumps to $599 for a 32 GB version and $699 for 64 GB. Models that can provide speedy 4G data access when Wi-Fi isn’t available go for $629, $729 and $829, respectively. The new iPads will be available on March 16; Apple is taking preorders now…. (more)
