Steve Jobs unveils the iPad 2

If there was a surprise - outside of Jobs' appearance - it had to be the new Smart Covers for the iPad 2. The covers come in a range of colors and material: you can choose either polyurethane or leather variants. A self-aligning magnetic hinge lets the cover attach to the iPad or fold into a triangle so it can double as a stand.

Heading into today's product announcement, it was unclear whether Steve Jobs would be on hand. Last month, Jobs announced he would be out indefinitely due to health-related issues. But once the lights dimmed at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Jobs strolled on stage in his trademark blue jeans and black tea shirt, bring the crowd to its feet. "Good morning," he said. "We've been working on this product for a while, and I didn't want to miss today."

The new tablet is faster than its predecessor with dual-core processors, which just about doubles the CPU performance and makes the graphics speed 9 times faster - while using the same power as the processor from the first iPad.

"Dramatically faster," Jobs said. "Up to twice as fast on CPU performance."

The iPad 2 sports front and rear facing cameras for video conversations. As expected, FaceTime, Apple's video chat service is coming to the iPad 2. It will work between two iPads, between an iPad and an iPod Touch, and between an iPad and a Mac

A forward facing camera is seen on the new iPad 2

It's also a lot thinner than the original iPad, coming in at 8 millimeters. At at 1.3 pounds, it also is a couple of ounces lighter. Ever the showman, Jobs made sure to draw the crowd's attention to the new size and weight: "It feels totally different," he said. Jobs also hastened to add that the changes would not impose any penalty on the machine's current 10-hour battery life.

Since the iPad's debut a year ago, Jobs said users have downloaded some 100 million books from its iBookstore. The only holdout was Random House. No longer.

Side view of the iPad 2. The new tablet will go on sale in the U.S. on March 11 and will start at $499.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 02: Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks during an Apple Special event to unveil the new iPad 2 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on March 2, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Apple unveiled the iPad 2 as the successor to its popular tablet, the iPad. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Steve Jobs

During the wrap-up, Jobs struck a philosophical note, one that seemed like more than the usual marketing shtick.

"It's in Apple's DNA that technology alone is not enough. It's technology married with liberal arts, humanities that yields us the result that makes our heart sing. And nowhere is that more true than in these post-PC devices. And a lot of folks in this tablet market are rushing in and looking at this as the next PC."

It would make for a fitting epitaph about his remarkable stewardship over the company he co-founded.