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Apple Launches iPad 2 — All New Design is Thinner, Lighter & Faster with FaceTime, Smart Covers & 10 Hour Battery — Apple® today introduced iPad™ 2, the next generation of its magical device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos …
Discussion:
Gizmodo, Fortune, Digital Daily, Engadget, Podcasting News, PC Magazine, Macworld, The Toybox Blog, MacRumors, Engadget, Mobilized, Stage Two, eHomeUpgrade, @joehewitt, Consumer Reports …, Hardware 2.0 Blog, FierceWireless, AllNewsMac, @dannysullivan, everythingiCafe, broadstuff, Internet2Go, TechFlash, The Apple Core Blog, CNET News, Between the Lines Blog, dailywireless.org and Laughing Squid
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iPad 2 first hands-on! (update: even more video!) — Well there you have it folks — the absurdly thin new iPad 2. We just got our hands all over the next greatest tablet from Apple and it's... very much the same, save for that new body. There's no question that the industrial design is top notch …


Apple slashes original iPad price to $399, iPad 2 not up for pre-order yet — Steve Jobs told us earlier that the new iPad pricing will stay exactly the same as the original iPad — meaning a base price of $499 for the 16GB WiFi version. Well, even though you can't get an iPad 2 until March 11th …
Discussion:
Open Source Blog, Geek.com, @bestbuy, ZDNet, TiPb, Ubergizmo, Gadgetell, Phones Review and techeblog.com


iPad 2 gets a Smart Cover — We can't say we were expecting to be impressed by a case for the new iPad 2, but Apple's pulled a surprise out its hat with its new Smart Covers for the tablet. Available in multiple colors and in your choice of polyurethane or leather variants …
Discussion:
Mobilized, GottaBeMobile, Bits, TechCrunch, Gearlog, LAPTOP Magazine, TomsTechBlog.com, PC World, SAI, Inc.com and Macworld


Apple announces iPad 2 with new design, faster A5 processor & two cameras shipping March 11
Discussion:
The Register, TechCrunch, CNET News, App Advice, PC World, GigaOM, Business Wire, Engadget, GottaBeMobile, LAPTOP Magazine, The Seattle Times, TechCrunch, TechCrunch, eWeek, VentureBeat, paidContent:UK, Download Squad, BBC, CNET News, Ars Technica, IntoMobile, BetaNews, Socialnomics, SAI, Gearlog, Gizmodo, Technologizer, paidContent, TUAW, Macworld, Electronista and silicontap.com

The stream of today's iPad 2 event is up at http://www.apple.com/apple-events/
Discussion:
Apple, 9 to 5 Mac, MacRumors, Technologizer, The Next Web, Erictric, GeekSmack, MacStories, @scobleizer and Geekosystem

Random House books come to Apple's iBookstore for iPad, iPhone
Discussion:
Apple, PC World, eWeek, ITworld.com, Computerworld, Digits, iClarified, TeleRead and Macworld


iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs. HP TouchPad vs. BlackBerry PlayBook: the tale of the tape — You might recall we ran this comparison about a month back when HP's TouchPad was announced, but now we're back with a full set of 2011 devices as Apple's brand new iPad 2 has joined the fray.
Discussion:
BetaNews, GottaBeMobile, Pocket-lint, Gadgets DNA, Digital Daily and LAPTOP Magazine
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Apple's iPad 2: An incremental upgrade enough to kill the competition — Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 on Wednesday and the festivities went about as expected. The iPad got two cameras, dropped some girth and introduced some snazzy new covers. — Missing from the equation was a USB port and a new display.

No apps, no sale: iPad 2 vs. Motorola Xoom vs RIM Playbook vs HP TouchPad
Discussion:
GottaBeMobile, Thanks:scobleizer


Why iPad 2 doesn't have HDMI built in — One thing struck me, other than the inexplicable absence of a “retina” display in the new iPad model, about Apple's announcement today. Why did Apple not build HDMI into the iPad 2? — It's not for the lack of space.
Discussion:
Engadget, RCR Unplugged, MacStories, PhoneDog.com and VentureBeat, Thanks:chris_alexander
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Apple brings HDMI output to iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2
Discussion:
App Advice and Macworld

Apple kills fall iPad 3 rumors by calling 2011 “Year of iPad 2”
Discussion:
9 to 5 Mac, Technologizer, Engadget and IntoMobile


Apple releases iOS 4.3 with iPad 2, includes new AirPlay features and FaceTime — Along with the iPad 2, Apple's releasing the final version of iOS 4.3, which features the Nitro Javscript engine from Safari on OS X, new iTunes Home Sharing features, and the suite of AirPlay features …
Discussion:
Engadget, AppleInsider, Apple, App Advice, VentureBeat, BetaNews, MobileCrunch, Guardian, Pulse2, Geek.com, BGR, Gizmodo Australia, PC World, BGR, Zatz Not Funny!, DailyFinance, @sgtdag, PSFK, iThinkDifferent, IntoMobile, @jasonkincaid, Inquirer, internetnews.com, Macworld, Gizmodo, Mobilized and Phones Review
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Steve Jobs: Tablets Are Not PCs And Our Competitors Don't Get It — The iPad is not a computer, and competitors who approach it like the PC market will fail, says Apple's Steve Jobs. — Like he did at last year's iPad introduction, Jobs closed today's iPad 2 event by talking …
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Steve Jobs Appears at Apple iPad Event
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CNN, Digital Daily, SAI, The Loop, SiliconANGLE, New York Times, VentureBeat, Guardian, TUAW, VentureBeat, CNET News, Technologizer, Reuters and @scobleizer

In With A Bang, Out With A Whimper: Calacanis Walks From TechCrunch Lawsuit — The PR stunt/blatant shakedown that so many tech journalists fell for is now apparently over. Just one business day after the conclusion of Jason Calacanis' Launch Conference he's filed a court document asking …
Discussion:
Pulse2


Square Now Processing $1 Million In Mobile Payments Per Day — Mobile payments startup Square has reached a new milestone this week—the company is now processing $1 million in payments per day, co-founder Jack Dorsey just Tweeted. — Square was processing a few million in mobile transactions per week …
Discussion:
@jack, The Business Insider, @josh_smith and @fromedome


How Charlie Sheen Got His Twitter Account Verified So Fast — Ad.ly Helped Take Handle From Squatter — Only 24 hours after Charlie Sheen got started on Twitter with @CharlieSheen, he had amassed more than 900,000 followers, easily one of the fastest follower roll-ups the service has seen.
Discussion:
de.tech.ting, GQ.COM, TechCrunch, WebProNews, The Atlantic Online, Mashable!, PE Hub Blog and All Facebook, more at Mediagazer »


Google Profiles Has a New Interface — Google Profiles has a new user interface that emphasizes the profile photo, includes many new sections and uses encrypted connections. You can now click on a section of your profile to edit it, add “10 words that describe you best”, bragging rights …
Discussion:
TechCrunch, Social Web Blog, Pulse2 and The Next Web


The Apple strategy tax — In episode 6 of the now-defunct StackOverflow podcast, former Microsoft employee Joel Spolsky talked about one of the many things that holds back large companies like Microsoft. … I've been thinking about the concept of a “strategy tax” while watching Apple's latest round of App Store policy changes.


Ashton Kutcher's Twitter Account Hacked at TED — TV star Ashton Kutcher may have more followers than all but 5 other people on Twitter (6,393,559) but he apparently has at least one snarky and politically minded adversary at the prestigious TED conference this week.
Discussion:
Gizmodo, SAI, @aplusk, The Daily What, Geekosystem, @aplusk, @bill_gross, The Huffington Post and Gizmodo Australia


Alleged WikiLeaker could face death penalty — According to a new report from NBC News, Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier who allegedly put the “leaks” in WikiLeaks, could face the death penalty. On Wednesday, the US government filed 22 new charges against Manning, one of which—"aiding the enemy"—is a capital offense.
Discussion:
CBS News, msnbc.com, Reuters and Boing Boing


Resist the Pull of Smartphones, Nintendo President Urges Developers — The president of Nintendo told video game developers Wednesday that smartphones were driving a trend toward lower quality, and economically unsustainable, video games. — “I fear our business is dividing …
Discussion:
VentureBeat and WebProNews
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Netflix and ‘short-form video service’ coming to Nintendo 3DS
Discussion:
Ars Technica, PC World, ComputerAndVideoGames.com, Geekosystem and Switched


Exclusive: Microsoft Mulls Legally Poking Facebook Over Ad Talent Raid — Microsoft-furious over a recent talent grab of its top advertising exec by Facebook-has been considering a wide range of options, including legal action to block the move, according to sources close to the situation.
Discussion:
SAI and The Next Web