14 DAY TRIAL // Many believe Apple is on track to deliver a 7-inch tablet early next year, with one analyst’s forecast including dual cameras, like the ones found on Apple’s fourth-generation iPod touch, to make it usable as a FaceTime device.
According to a research note issued by Rodman & Renshaw analyst Ashok Kumar this morning, the second generation iPad will have both front and rear facing-cameras, Gigacom reports.
The device would boast FaceTime support, a flagship feature used by Apple to market the fourth-generation iPhone and iPod touch.
For over a month now it has been speculated that Apple was working on a revision to the iPad, which launched to the masses in January.
As noted above, many believe the second-generation Apple tablet will be smaller, with a seven-inch screen and perhaps several other enhancements that would make sense for the reduced form factor.
Yet recently reported leaks coming from actual Apple suppliers put Apple on track to launch a tablet with an almost identical size and shape.
In a recent update, DigiTimes claims to have learned from component suppliers (including touch panel and reinforced glass suppliers) that validation was being completed with the Cupertino giant for a “second-generation 9.7-inch iPad.”
The suppliers reportedly added that Apple expects them to start shipments for the second-generation iPad at the beginning of 2011, which falls in line with Kumar’s predictions.
The report specifically said that the new-generation tablet was expected to drop in the first quarter of 2011.
If we are to look at iPad 2 rumors dished out on the web, one aspect seems most common: the planned launch date.
Earlier this month, an AppleInsider report quoting a person with proven knowledge of Apple's future product plans revealed that a revamped iPad was about to launch in the coming months, in a departure from Apple’s 12 month product cycle for iOS device refreshes.
The site claimed to have learned from this person that a new version of the tablet device with a built-in video camera had already progressed to advanced testing stages. The source specifically noted that the tablet was FaceTime-capable.
Additionally, the report noted that the device would see the light of day no later than the first quarter of fiscal 2011 (which begins months earlier than January 2011), despite the company’s historical product cycles, which generally span 12 months.
According to AppleInsider, this person said Apple had grown ambitious to verify a possible launch ahead of this year's holiday shopping season.