Apple sends out invites for next week’s iPad 2 event

It’s official, Apple has sent out invitations to a March 2 press event in San Francisco that unambiguously hints that it will unveil the iPad 2.

The event will take place at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, like pretty much all of Apple’s San Francisco events. VentureBeat will be there covering it live.

News of the event was first reported yesterday, following rumors that the iPad 2 may be delayed. Apple’s stock took a hit yesterday afternoon because of the rumor, closing at around $338.61. The stock is slowing rebounding this morning — it’s sitting at $341.87 at the time of this post — and it will definitely see some gains now that news of the iPad 2 event is certain.

As with every major Apple device launch, rumors about the iPad 2 have been floating around for some time. By this point, it’s pretty clear that it will feature front and rear cameras — although the back camera may be lower quality than many hope. It’s also expected to be thinner and slightly lighter than the current iPad, and it will likely run Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor.

Many had also hoped that the iPad 2 would feature a higher resolution display than the first generation model, although now most rumors say that it will be the same 1024 by 768 pixel resolution. The craziest rumor by far is that we’ll see yet another iPad release later this year, possibly called the iPad 3.

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