14 DAY TRIAL // Just about everyone's talking right now about just the world should expect from Apple's future iPad iteration, for the time being known as “iPad 2”, but it seems that some people (namely, Chinese iPad accessories' manufacturers) might know a bit more about it than the rest of the world, since some have already outed a couple of protective cases designed specifically for it.
So, as MacRumors reports, it seems that several products of this type have made their way onto the market in China (actually, on wholesale Chinese website Alibaba), one of the most notorius being the Crystal Case, which has also been shot on video (you can go down to the end of the article in order to check it out).
Anyway, while these cases aren't exactly what one might call “design masterpieces”, nor do they feature a particularly impressive quality build, they do provide some interesting information regarding what we might expect, in terms of features, from the next-generation iPad tablet.
So, first of all, the Crystal Case, as well as the other models, features a special opening on the rear side, top-left corner, hinting at the fact that the iPad 2 will actually come packed with a rear-facing camera module, which is certainly something most would-be iPad owners are looking forward to.
Another interesting detail revealed by these cases is that the iPad 2 might also come equipped with an SD card slot, which many users might actually find to come particularly in handy (as probably most of you know, right now, an adapter is required in order to transfer photos from an SD card to the iPad's memory).
Of course, all of these products might be nothing more than marketing stunts coming from these small accessories manufacturers, but the fact that they're so close to local Chinese manufacturers means that they might actually have some inside info on what we might expect from the iPad 2, and are thus getting ready to mass-produce these accessories just in time for the official release of Apple's next-gen tablet, pegged for some point in Spring 2011.