A new iPad, and some more magic

NEW DELHI, INDIA: This is the god moment for Apple fans: the launch of a new version of an iconic, category-changing product. Their god isn't around any more, but an Apple invitation to a media event still sparks off speculation, blog posts, tweets and columns, all unprecedented and unrivaled by any other event.

At midnight on the eve of Holi in India (10 am in San Francisco, where the Apple event was) the wraps came off the mystery product: it was the new iPad, and it was going to be called just that. The iPad. Not iPad 3, nor even iPad HD. Apple fans were quick to defend this naming oddity as “brilliant strategy”. Show the same fans an exploding, smoking Apple product, and they will defend to the death the brilliant design feature.

  Also read: New iPad cumbersome for app downloads 

Still, it's curious, given that the iPad 2 will continue alongside the newer model, priced lower by $100 (Rs 5,000 in India) than the cheapest new model. So from mid-March, you can ask in US stores for the iPad (and you'll get the new one) or the iPad 2 (the older one).

Apple's new iPad does have the expected, brilliant super-sharp Retina display, the same as on the iPhone 4S — but much more impressive in a full-size tablet. The QXGA (2048×1536) display will pack four time the pixels of the iPad 2. To handle the heavy display graphics (and heavier apps), there's a quad-core A5X processor.

There's also a better camera now (no surprise, given how poor the iPad 2's VGA-quality camera is). It doesn't go all the way to the brilliant 8-megapixel shooter on the iPhone 4S, but like the latter, it uses a high-sensitivity “backlight illumination” sensor that works much better in low light, for instance indoors. It also does full HD 1080p video. The front-facing camera remains VGA quality, a 0.3-megapixel "FaceTime" camera for video chats.

And surprise: there's 4G/LTE along with 3G, in the higher models, which I didn't expect despite all the rumors. This makes no difference in India, where there's no 4G around in the near future, but still good to have. My surprise is because 4G tends to sap battery life, but Apple seems to have cracked that. 3G and GPRS/Edge of course continue to be supported.

The 9-hour battery life claim with 4G/LTE (and 10 hours without it), for a slim device with this extraordinary display resolution and processing power, is simply amazing. I also like the built-in hot-spot feature that supports up to five devices over wi-fi.

The third-generation iPad will likely hit Indian shelves in April, as the iPad 2 did last year, though India isn't on the list of countries for the March launch. The price remains the same as for the equivalent iPad 2 models ($499, $599 and $699 for 16, 32 and 64 GB wi-fi-only models), and the base 16 GB iPad 2 immediately drops to an all-inclusive Rs 24,500 ($399 plus taxes in the US) for wi-fi, Rs 33k for 3G. The new iPad will thus start at Rs 29,500 for the base (16 GB wi-fi model) in India.

Would I upgrade from my iPad2?

Not as yet. There is nothing dramatically different that I would see with my current usage and apps, except for 4G, and there's no 4G/LTE in India yet.

But let's wait to see the new apps. Apps which take advantage of the enhanced processor power, specs and super-display. That could change the game: a single new app that's really compelling (with enhanced features specific to the new iPad) could get me to upgrade.

There is a likely upgrade path for me–and millions others: the hand-me-down route. If my wife wants to upgrade her first-gen iPad, she gets my iPad 2 (for a price!) and hands her iPad down to her sister who doesn't have one yet, and so I buy an iPad 3...

The key here is that the first-gen iPad is still a very usable device, and can do much of what newest model will, though it was a bit fatter, a wee bit heavier, and sans camera. It's nice that Apple maintains the design and form factor in a way that doesn't completely obsolete the older-generation products, as we've also seen with the iPhone (the 3GS still sells alongside the 4 and the 4S).

With the new version, Apple's tablet stays ahead of competition. It's still the most compelling tablet for the price, though the field is now crowded.

The biggest part of the Apple story, though, remains in the half million apps on the Apple store, apps that transform a thin slate into a magical device.

(Prasanto K Roy is chief editor, CyberMedia. You can follow him at  twitter.com/prasanto)