Apple Unveils Faster, Sharper iPad At San Francisco Event
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) - After much anticipation and hype, Apple CEO, Tim Cook has revealed the new model of the iPad and updates on other Apple products.
Cook opened the product launch by talking about a "post-PC" era. Apple has popularized tablet computers with its iPads, thus hurting PC sales in the U.S. and other industrialized countries. Smartphones such as Apple's iPhones are also delaying PC replacements among consumers. Cook said "Apple is at the forefront of this revolution. Apple has its feet fully planted in the post-PC future."
Photo Gallery: New iPad Revealed
Cook then moved on to iCloud and upgrades to Apple TV. Apple is going to start letting users store movies on its iCloud remote storage service, allowing them to access their movies from PCs, iPhones and other Apple devices through the Internet.
Watch Video of Announcement: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
The company is also upgrading its Apple TV set-top box so that it can play movies in "1080p" format, the highest-resolution commonly used video standard. The small box, which comes with a remote, will still cost $99. The upgraded version will go on sale starting next week.
Leading in to what the world has been waiting for, Cook revealed the new iPad model and its features. "The momentum behind (the) iPad has been incredible and has surprised just about everyone." He said the number of iPads sold in the last three months of 2011 was greater than any single vendor sold of traditional PCs. Apple sold 15.43 million iPads in that quarter to bring the total to 55 million. Cook continues to say that the iPad is "reinventing portable computing and ... outstripping the wildest of predictions."
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Some of the new features on the new iPad include a new 2048 x 1536 resolution Retina Display screen, a faster processor, a new 5-megapixel camera, HD video recording, voice dictation, and 4G LTE.
"When we set out to create the iPad, we set out to create not just a new product, but a new category, and we said that in order to do that, the iPad had to be the best device for doing the kinds of things you do the most often, things like browsing the web or checking e-mail," Cook said.
Prices aren't changing from the previous models. They will start at $499. Versions capable of accessing cellular networks will cost $629 to $829.
The new iPad model will go on sale March 16 in the U.S.
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