Rumor Mill: Apple to unveil iPad 3 in early March

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will take the wraps off the next iteration of its iPad tablet at an event in early March, according to a report from AllThingsD.

The report, which cited unnamed sources, said the event will take place in San Francisco, but did not provide many details beyond that. However, the report did note that the device will have a 2048×1536 Retina Display. Apple declined to comment, according to AllThingsD.

The AllThingsD report seems to gel with a report from The Verge that also noted the Retina Display. According to that report, the new iPad will be similar in size to the iPad 2 but will be slightly thicker, and it will include a dual-core processor like the iPad 2. According to a January Bloomberg report, the next version of Apple's iPad tablet will support LTE networks, have a faster processor and arrive in March. An LTE version of the iPad would be Apple's first LTE product.

If Apple does unveil the next iPad in early March, and begins selling it shortly thereafter, the company could once again steal some of the thunder tablet vendors like Samsung and HTC likely will try to generate at the Mobile World Congress trade show later this month in Barcelona, Spain, where tablets are likely to be at least part of the focus.

Apple sold 15.43 million iPads in the fourth quarter and 40.5 million in total in 2011. While the iPad continues to trounce other tablets in the market--the iPad commanded 58 percent of the global tablet market in the fourth quarter--Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android is closing the gap. Android tablets now represent 39 percent of the global tablet market, up from 29 percent a year earlier, according to Strategy Analytics.

For more:
- see this AllThingsD article
- see this The Verge article
- see this Cult of Mac post

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