The iPad 2 speculation and rumor guide

iPad2 mockup from Pinoytutorial... looks a lot like the Notion Ink Adam but you never know!

The iPad was one of its kind. It broke down the barriers between smart phone, netbook and laptop and made room for tablet. It was elegant, it was sleek, it was powerful and it was innovative. So in other words, it was another brain child of Steve Jobs.  The rumor mill has been smelling of Apple lately, and this article is here to gather all of the latest, most reasonable reports from around the web. This is the iPad2 speculation and rumor guide.

1. The Japanese Mac blog MacOtakara spread word that the iPad2 will have a flatter backside and smaller bezel around the edge as well as a larger “wide-ranged speaker” located behind the mesh speaker grille.
2. Digitimes has cited a report from Chinese news portal Economy Daily News that states Apple’s next-gen iPad will ship with a front-facing camera for video calling, USB ports, a carbon fiber body and thinner glass, Apple’s Retina Display, and new 3-axis gyroscopes for major tablet physics gaming targeted at a younger crowd.
3. A rear-facing camera and a slot on the lower left that could potentially be an SD card slot (*gasp*) is predicted by many sources based on the string of third-part cases that have already been produced for the next Apple tablet.
4. A columnist from InfoWorld predicts a faster A4 chip on board which improves speed and fluidity of navigation, as well as a 128 GB model. (Seems simple enough, his justification is that Apple always ups the ante with each new generation of device and the last iPad maxes out at 64 GB of storage.)
5. Cult of Mac reports that investment firm Detweiler Fenton states that a 5 MP camera on the back is likely.
6. A Reuters report cites four anonymous sources that claim to have insider info on five of Apple’s suppliers:

• Touchscreen chip designer Wintek
• Battery maker Simplo Technology Co Ltd
• AVY Precision, an unlisted maker of covers for electronic products
• Camera module makers Genius Electronic Optical Co Ltd and Largan Precision Co Ltd

Lastly, it is all over the net that the iPad2 will be unveiled sometime around the aniversary of the first iPad… this April.

UPDATE 1/5 Another iPad 2 case showed up at CES 2011, this one sporting the same features as the others: a spot for both of the cameras and a slot along the bottom for a bigger speaker. Seems like these features are almost solid, otherwise the Chinese manufacturers are chasing a very large fantasy.