Apple has added a couple of video-call cameras to the iPad 2. The one on the back does 720p video and 0.7MP images (960 x 720 px), much like the iPod Touch 4G. The front-facing snapper only goes as high as VGA on both stills and video.

Thanks to those shooters the iPad 2 can now do Facetime calling over Wi-Fi.

The 8.8mm slim Apple iPad 2 weighs just under 601g, which sounds far better than the 730g of its predecessor. Despite the slimmer profile and the increased processed power it promises the same 10 hours of battery life.

The Apple iPad 2 will launch on 11th March in the US, Australia, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Japan. About twenty more countries will join the party on 26th March.

The 16GB Wi-Fi only version of the iPad 2 will cost $500, while the 3G-enabled units start at $630. Upgrading to 32GB or 64GB of storage will set you back another $100 or $200 respectively.

The Apple iPad 2 will also come in CDMA and EV-DO flavor, which will be available through Verizon in the US.

You might be excited to learn that Apple will offer the iPad 2 in black and white color versions with the white one available from Day 1.

Along with the iPad 2, Apple released the new Digital AV adapter that allows you to connect an HDMI cable to the tablet and stream *some* 1080p content directly to your HDTV. Videos are output in 720p. The $39 accessory also has a slot for a charger so you can refill your iPad 2 battery while using it.

Another great news is that the HDMI AV adapter will be compatible with the iPhone 4, iPad 1 and the iPod Touch 4th gen. They will only output in 720p however.

Apple will also be releasing a series of colorful Smart covers for the iPad 2. Those attach magnetically to the device and protect its display from scratches. Plus they can serve as an ingenious morphing stand for the tablet.

Mind blown! If you had to guess how many iPhone 4s would Apple manage to push in three days, you wouldn’t guess 1.7 million would you? And you’d be wrong, because that’s exactly how many they sold.

We wrote about iPhone 4 shortages, but when we’re talking about 1.7 million units sold in just three days, it’s perhaps more appropriate to call it “overwhelming, I can’t believe it’s true demand” rather than “shortage”.

By the way, starting tomorrow, AT&T stores should be able to offer walk-in sales – they couldn’t do that so far, because of said overwhelming demand.

Even Apple is impressed, quoth Steve Jobs – “This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history”. No, really? The iPhone 3G and the 3GS sold “just” 1 million in three days, so yes, we’d say the iPhone 4 sales are doing pretty good.

Mr. Jobs also apologizes “to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply”. No mention of all those customers crying foul over the poor reception. They were told to stay tuned even though there was no problem (aside from users holding it wrong that is). Makes sense, right?

Ah, well. We guess the problems reported by the first people to get an iPhone 4 didn’t scare the crowd away. Plus, there are already rumors of a 4.01 update to iOS that will solve the reception issues in software.

Source

Three is the latest major UK carrier to announce that it will get the iPhone 4 at launch. Launching its pre-order campaign on 15 June and starting actual sales on 24 June, Three becomes the fifth UK operator to offer Apple’s latest mobile phone.

Meanwhile O2 announced that it will offer its subscribes an early upgrade if they go for the iPhone 4. You will be able to pay off the reminder of your contract and get an iPhone 4 on a new 18 or 24-month one (AT&T style).

O2 will charge you with 20 pounds for each of the remaining months of your contract, no matter how much you are really paying. That’s about 30% off the cheapest iPhone tariff. This way it will still be cheaper to pay off your contract and get a new one, instead of buying a SIM-free iPhone.

There is a catch of course – you will lose the change-of-mind period option. So once you’ve decided to go the iPhone 4 way, there is no turning back.

With five carriers throwing tempting iPhone 4 offers your way it has to feel good to be British these days.

The iPhone 4G continues it’s Magellan routine and going around the Earth – this time it showed up in the Czech Republic. Those clever Czech bloggers put it under a microscope to find out the screen resolution of the upcoming iPhone.

Now, it’s not a 100% certain, but with Apple’s poor track record recently we wouldn’t be at all surprised if an iPhone 4G went missing in the Czech Republic too. But even after all those lost iPhones springing here and there, one feature remained still unconfirmed – the screen resolution.

Rumor has is it’s going to be quadruple the current HVGA – 640×960, up from 320×480. A peek at the iPhone 4G under a microscope reportedly confirms this rumor and adds that the screen uses the same LCD IPS matrix as the iPad’s. So no AMOLED screen this year as well. But considering the iPhone’s screen is the yardstick for TFT screens, that’s not a bad thing either.

iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch and Nexus One iPhone 4G

Anyway, the iPhone 3GS, iPod Touch and Nexus One screens were photographed under a microscope as well and were used as reference points. Then, a photo was snapped of the screen on the iPhone 4G under the same magnification.

The Czech bloggers used these photos to calculate the resolution. Note that the iPhone 4G screen was shot while turned off, because the phone was dead on arrival.

iPhone 4G screen under higher magnification

To illustrate what kind of impact the higher resolution would have on image quality they did some more calculations. The iPhone 4G with its 640×960 pixels resolution, has 320ppi pixel densitiy, while the iPhone 3GS (and the ones that came before it) has only 160ppi.

For comparison the HTC HD2 has a 217ppi, the Nexus One goes slightly higher at 252ppi (but uses a different kind of sub-pixel arrangement) and the Motorola DROID/Milestone has 265. The iPad has a much bigger screen and clocks in at 132ppi.

So in essence, not only would the iPhone 4G have the highest resolution among GSM phones but it would also have the most pixel-dense screen ever fitted on a smartphone.

The best thing for iPhone users and iPhone developers is that the resolution is exactly four times higher than the current crop of iPhones. That means upscaling of the already available applications should be easy as cake.

The iPhone 4G would definitely need some serious horse power under the hood to cater for the increased demand of the higher resolution output – especially in graphically intensive applications. So the rumor of the 1 GHz iPad SoC powering the iPhone 4G definitely sounds more credible now.

A price cut just before the launch of a new iPhone is not unusual – the current “old” iPhone, the iPhone 3G with 8GB memory goes for 99 dollars (the 3GS was going for 199 dollars). Now, Wal-Mart is retiring the 3G as the iPhone 3GS is about to become the “old” iPhone.

Steve Jobs himself is giving a keynote in the beginning of June without a doubt announcing` iPhone 4G (or HD if that’s what they are going for). However, because of all the leaks people pretty much know what to expect from the new generation Apple smartphone.

Anyone not terribly excited about the new features that the iPhone 4G will bring will surely be tempted to snatch an iPhone 3GS at a more affordable price point. The 99 US dollar offer by Walmart features the 16GB built-in memory, but also a catch – a 2 year contract with AT&T.

Still, instead of buying off the leftover iPhone 3GS stock, it’d probably be better to wait a few weeks more and then make the decision. The iPhone 4G will have some pretty sweet features, like a higher-res screen and quite possibly 720p video recording.

White faceplate for the next-gen iPhone

The upcoming iPhone (a.k.a. iPhone 4G or iPhone HD) made a bunch of public appearances during the last couple of months but we only had the chance to see it in black. Well, a few days back its bare faceplate in white posed for some shots but it’s actually today’s images we were waiting for.

Apple iPhone 4G a.k.a. iPhone HD in white

Unfortunately, there are no shots from the back, only from the front and the side, but we still have the chance to get a sneak peek. There is one more thing worth mentioning about those new pics of the next-gen iPhone: while the frame looked plastic and kind of cheap on the black versions we’ve seen so far, this time it’s nice and shiny (apparently, made of metal).

A metallic frame suits the next-gen iPhone much better

Once again, the phone is off so we don’t get to taka a look at the new iPhone OS 4.0 that should be launched along with the next generation of the iPhone.