iPad 3 Spotted at CES … Shipping After March?

The iPad 3 is going to be one of the most exciting gadgets of 2011. Many Apple fans have been waiting for the company to release its next generation tablet to the market. iPad 3 rumors are all over the place. Most of them point to the device having a retina display and a quad core processor inside. But was the iPad 3 seen at the CES event? iLounge suggests that the device looks so similar to its predecessor in design that it would be hard to recognize for some.

The new iPad is going to be 1mm or so thicker than the iPad 2. The camera hole has gotten larger as well. We all know how lousy iPad 2’s cameras are. So it is not a surprise that Apple will be upgrading those too. The screen is going to be the biggest selling point for this new tablet. If we are lucky, we might be able to use iPad 2 cases for this slate. We believe there is a good chance the tablet that has been seen at the CES event is the iPad 2S. Apple does intend to change its pricing structure to get to an even stronger position. It would make sense for the company to slightly update its current generation tablet to put more pressure on the other players in this market.

We all would like to know when these new iPads will start shipping. The Japanese Mac site MacOtakara suggests that Foxconn and Pegatron are expected to ship their first batch of iPad 3 units in early March. Some accessory makers have allegedly obtained detailed form-factor information for these tablets already. Rumors do suggest that many iPad 2 accessories will be compatible with the iPad 3. We all will have to wait till March to see what Apple has in store for us.