Faster chip and sharper screen likely on iPad 3 tech

Dubai Apple is expected to unveil a quad-core iPad 3 with 4G LTE wireless capability at a private event in San Francisco next week. Apple sent out invitations on Tuesday for a March 7 press event to select journalists with a picture of an iPad and the words: "We have something you really have to see. And touch." The date confirms a report from iMore last month claiming Apple would be holding the press briefing on Wednesday. On February 27 it reported that the iPad 3 was ready to ship from Foxconn in China and a shipment would arrive in the US on March 9. Since the first iPad came out in 2010, sales of traditional computers have slowed, but rival PC and phone makers have been unable to mirror Apple's success with their own tablet computers. Apple has sold 55 million iPads. Apple Inc didn't provide details on the new device. Various unconfirmed reports speak of a sharper screen and faster cellular broadband options. It's not known when such a new device will be available for sale. Last year, sales of the iPad 2 began in the US nine days after the announcement. The company sold 32 million iPads in 2011, and another 15.43 million in its first quarter of 2012. According to Richard Shim, senior analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, the launch of iPad 3 will fuel further demand in the tablet space, and the total shipments are to cross the 100 million mark this year from 72.7 million units in 2011, and this is where it gets interesting, accounting for 25.5 per cent of the overall mobile PC shipments. He said tablets will be the growth accelerant in the mobile PC market this year, as macro-economic factors and hard drive supply issues impact the notebook market. Demand for tablets will continue to be driven by ever more powerful multi-core processors, mature operating systems, growing apps libraries and higher resolution panels. Last year the first 1280x720 pixel phone screens appeared, but according to Richard Shim, that resolution will become the new standard for high-end smartphones in 2012. "We also expect a significant bump in tablets' pixel density this year," he added. This big feature rumoured to be coming to this year's model is a display that packs four times the number of pixels as the first and second-generation models at 2048×1536, bearing resemblance to the so-called Retina Displays found on the company's recent model iPhones and iPod Touches. Other expected features include a speedier processor, better cameras, and the possibility of 4G LTE networking. From gulfnews