Hot on the heels of a quarter in which the iPad 2 outsold every major PC with 15.4 million units, Apple CEO Tim Cook showed off the new tablet in his first product announcement other than the iPhone 4S since the passing of Steve Jobs.

While the exterior of the new iPad doesn’t look dramatically different from the iPad 2, it does offer numerous improvements both under the hood and in terms of display capabilities. As expected, the new iPad has a super-sharp Retina Display, with an astounding resolution of 2048×1536, or a total of 3.1 million pixels at a density of 264 pixels per inch.

Take that, 1080p! This means that you’ll no longer be able to distinguish pixels on screen as you can with the iPad and iPad 2. The display also claims to offer 44% better color saturation than the iPad 2′s already high quality screen.

Existing applications will automatically be upscaled to take advantage of the higher resolution, and obviously text, video and photos will look way better right away. But I’m really looking forward to games and creative applications which take advantage of the sharper screen details. Just think about the fact that this thing can push more pixels than an Xbox 360 or a PS3!

It’s all powered by a new chip called the A5X, a quad-core CPU/GPU to help push all those pretty pixels to the display. However, the CPU side still runs at 1GHz – only they GPU has seen a speed bump.

The iPad’s main camera has also gotten a much-needed upgrade, now offering 5 megapixel resolution, backside illumination and a hybrid IR filter, just like the stellar camera in the iPhone 4S. It also supports auto-focus, auto-white-balance and face detection. Video can be shot at up to 1080p resolution, with software based image stabilization. It doesn’t sound like the user-facing camera has changed, though.

Apple has also added a new feature to the iPad – voice dictation. There’s a handy new button on the bottom of the keyboard which looks like a microphone. Tapping this engages the voice dictation capability (which appears to be a stripped-down Siri), and transcribes text to typing in US English, British, Australian, French, German and Japanese.

The iPad HD also is the first Apple device to support 4G LTE – which means super-fast network speeds wherever you go (in covered areas, that is.) Top speed of the LTE modem is 73MBps, which is nearly double the absolute top speed of 3G HSPA or EV-DO. Apple showed off the 4G LTE running on both AT&T and Verizon networks, so you have a choice right away, though it will require different versions of the tablet. Internationally, Apple has partnered with Rogers, Bell and Telus as well. One other bonus feature is that the iPad will also support tethering, so it can act as a mobile hot-spot.

Apple is claiming the same battery life as the iPad 2, with 10 hours for Wi-Fi and 9 hours on 4G LTE. At  9.4mm thick and 1.4 pounds, it does weigh a tiny bit more than the iPad 2, so they must have had to put a bigger battery in there. (UPDATE: The iPad 2 has a 25 watt-hour battery, and the new iPad has a 42.5 watt-hour battery, so it’s much bigger.)

Prices remain unchanged from the iPad 2, with the Wi-Fi version selling for $499, $599 and $699 (USD) for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively, and the 4G LTE models going for $629, $729 and $829 in the same memory configurations.

Pre-orders start later today over at the Apple Store, and the new iPad ships on March 16th to the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Japan. Much of the rest of Europe, along with New Zealand get the new iPad on March 23rd.

While the new iPad may be more of an evolutionary step than a revolutionary one, the new iPad still looks mighty impressive. If you don’t own an iPad yet, you’ve got more than enough reasons to buy this one. If you own an iPad or iPad 2, the new display, faster CPU, 4G LTE and improved camera might convince you to upgrade later this month.

Apple also confirmed that they will continue to produce the iPad 2 for at least some period of time, with prices dropping by $100 for each of the older models. You can find more details on the new iPad over at Apple’s website, and you can view the complete announcement here.

[Image Credit: Engadget] 

What I like about Joseph’s concept design is that it doesn’t seem so outlandish that it wouldn’t be possible. The Prestige would come in a case that inherits the clean black styling of the current Xbox 360 Slim, but curves out the edges, and puts it into a smaller package, with new and improved hardware under the hood.

As proposed, the Xbox Prestige would have no DVD or Blu-ray drive, instead, storing all content to the console’s ample 2TB hard drive, downloading it from the “cloud.” The Prestige would also connect wirelessly to your TV. In addition, the console would have a new device called KinectIN built into it, which would provide for gesture control of menus, as well as a scanner which can read your own personal “Xbox Card” to purchase games, manage profiles, etc.

The KinectIN wouldn’t be used for gameplay though – there would still be an external device simply called Kinect2, which would offer significantly higher image and motion sensitivity than the original Kinect, and would even capture video in Full HD 3D.

Joseph doesn’t really say anything about the other hardware improvements in his concept designs, though Yanko Design reports that it would have an 8-core CPU, “20x faster performance,” and support technologies including 3D, 4K2K, multiTV (DPConnect), and even have a GPS built into it, so you could know the location of other users on the Xbox Live network.

Buzzwords aside, I rather like how simple and clean the designs are. Chances are, Microsoft will go out on its own and do something completely different with its next-gen Xbox, but it’s always fun to see what comes from the imagination of fans too.

[via Yanko Design]

There doesn’t seem to be a lot of info about what’s inside, but we do know that it has a Core i7 1366 processor and that the frame is hand made, welded, powder coated and completely built from scratch. It took 4 months of work to finish. That’s probably faster than Starfleet can build one. Then again, Starfleet has to do a lot more then slap a computer inside.

Apparently he made it back in 2007, according to the image, but it just showed up in the forum. All of the detail work is pretty amazing. I would love to see what he could do with a Klingon Bird of Prey or a Romulan ship. Sure, I would have made the nacelles on the bottom more angular myself, but who am I to judge? This mod is awesome. Great work Onizuka.

Maker Rinnial’s daughter will match her father this Halloween, as he’ll be similarly clad. This mini uniform is from the Star Trek: The Next Generation era, when apparently it was totally cool for toddlers to run things in space. One of those little skirts from the original would have been cute, too, though.

[via Geek Crafts]

And these aren’t just regular knitted meerkats, but Star Trek meerkats, circa the original series. But if you prefer your meerkats to bow to Captain Picard, Oddy can hook you up with a Next Generation set.

Of meerkats. In Star Trek uniforms. And you can get a set for £22, or around $36 U.S.

[Meerkats via Geek Crafts]