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We followed the rumors, the leaks, the speculation and the comings and goings of various peers and future competitors, but Apple's finally gone and revealed the updated iPad. Who presented the event? None other than CEO Steve Jobs himself.

The iPad 2 is powered by an Apple A5 chip, a dual-core CPU that somehow consumes the same amount of power as the iPad 1's A4 unit, but delivers "up to 2X" the speed. This also leads to faster graphics, which Jobs quoted as being "nine times" better than the iPad 1. The A5 is the "first dual-core tablet to ship in volume."

iPad 2 is just 8.8mm deep, compared to the iPhone 4's 9.3mm and original iPad's chunky 13.4mm, and it's also just 1.3 pounds--much less than the original's 1.5 mass, and thus way more handler-friendly. It's coming in both white and black (that's the glass front bezel, not the aluminum back) and will will launch March 11th in the U.S. and it'll be available in 26 nations from March 25th.

The twin cameras on front and back support PhotoBooth and Apple's videocalling protocol FaceTime, the front unit is a VGA-res webcam, and the rear unit has 720p video recording powers. To go with the new video features, iMovie is now on the iPad, bringing simple touch-based editing and production skills directly to the tablet itself--it's a $4.99 App Store app, available universally (so can we expect it on iPhones too?). An iOS GarageBand app is also en-route for the same price. The device will run iOS 4.3, which includes a much faster mobile Safari browser, iTunes Home Sharing for easy media streaming at home, better AirPlay features and the return of the screen orientation lock switch. This iOS refresh also brings the Wi-Fi hotspot skills that were revealed on the Verizon iPhone to the iPad.

Pricing may have been the first iPad's secret killer feature, so Apple's not messing with the recipe: The Wi-Fi only 16GB iPad 2 will launch at the same $499 as the original, and the most expensive 3G-enabled 64GB version will still cost $829.

In terms of accessories, the iPad 2 supports a new HDMI cable that hooks directly to the 30-pin iPod connector (and also supports charging via USB) which mirror's the display onto an HDTV at up to 1020p full-HD resolution. The idea is to boost presentation skills of teachers and business folk, and the system even recognizes if you rotate the iPad. A new flush-fitting case has also been created, in multiple colors and coming with a neat magnetic latch that automatically conforms to the iPad's shape.

Revealing the iPad, Jobs began by noting that Apple's competitors teased Apple for using the word "magical" and that the price wasn't reasonable--he wondered what those same competitors are saying now. Jobs then gave us an update on iPad sales figures: 15 million in 2010, in just nine months--"More than every Tablet PC ever sold," and earning Apple $9.5 billion in 2010 alone (there was even a little dig at Samsung's Galaxy Tab sales figures). There are also over 65,000 iPad-specific apps, while the competition launches with "at most" a hundred apps.

Jobs began his iPad presentation noting that users have downloaded over 100 million ebooks from the iBookstore in well under a year's availability, and that combined with the App Store and iTunes stores, Apple has just achieved over 200 million accounts in the stores, what jobs thinks is the most accounts with credit cards of any online service...

That's a lot of statistics to back up that the iPad, and its ecosystem, has been an astonishing success.

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San Francisco, March 3 (IANS) Apple CEO Steve Jobs returned from his medical leave to to unveil the next-generation iPad. The new iPad is thinner than an iPhone 4, boasts faster processing speeds, and sports two cameras for Apple's FaceTime feature.

'While others have been scrambling to copy the first generation iPad, we're launching iPad 2, which moves the bar far ahead of the competition and will likely cause them to go back to the drawing boards yet again,' Jobs said at a launch event here Wednesday.

A surprised a audience gave him a standing ovation and tech bloggers immediately and breathlessly tweeted out the news.

The iPad 2 also comes in both black and white versions, and will be available in the US from March 11. Prices start at $499 for a WiFi-only model. There are a total of nine different iPad 2 models, with Verizon and AT&T having their own distinct 3G versions.

Apple has also taken strides in making the iPad 2 more than just a device for consuming media, as its predecessor was. With the announcement of tablet versions of its Garageband and iMovie apps, it is hoping the new iPad will be used as a content-creation device.

In addition, Apple has also designed its own case for the iPad 2, called Smart Cover. The case (below) uses a magnetic hinge, folds into a stand for typing, and will wake or put to sleep the tablet when opened or closed, respectively.

Along with the iPad 2, Jobs also announced an update to iOS. Version 4.3 includes a faster Safari, enhancements to AirPlay and the Personal Hotspot feature. The latter will allow users to share their iPhone 4 cellular data connection over WiFi with up to five devices.

But the appearance of Jobs made a bigger splash than the unveiling of the new Apple iPad.

Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. He had a liver transplant in 2009. On January 17, he took his second leave from the company in the past two years.

Speculation about Jobs' health had increased in recent weeks, with tabloids weighing in with unsubstantiated reports.

Some of those rumours were tempered when Jobs was photographed in February attending a private dinner with President Barack Obama and other Silicon Valley elite.

Hundreds of Nigerians gathered in the capital Abuja on Wednesday for a march to the presidency to demand the appearance of ailing leader Umaru Yar'Adua, two weeks after he returned from a Saudi hospital.

The 58-year-old leader has not been seen in public since being flown back after three months of treatment in Jeddah for a heart condition. There have been no announcements on his health but presidency sources say he remains in intensive care.

His return while still too frail to govern raised fears that his inner circle of aides, led by his wife Turai, would fight to maintain their influence over Africa's most populous nation and seek to undermine Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.

A power struggle at the top of the OPEC member nation of 140 million people could bring paralysis in government decision-making, threatening an amnesty programme in the oil-producing Niger Delta and stalling momentum on reforms.

Several hundred people, many wearing T-shirts with "Save Nigeria Group" on the front and "Enough is Enough" on the back, gathered near to a city centre hotel under the watch of police officers lining the avenue.

"We want the invisible president to be revoked. We are tired of a president we can't see, who can't govern. We want to see him," Babatunde Ogala, a politician from the commercial capital Lagos, told the gathering crowd.

"If we can't see him we want someone else who is allowed to govern. Why is a cabal controlling our country," he said.

Officials organising the march said they planned to walk to Aso Rock, the presidential villa, and hand a letter of protest to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who co-ordinates between the presidency and government ministries.

"Turai, leave Nigeria alone" and "Jonathan get decisive now" were among the banners held up above the crowd.

A police spokesman addressed the protesters, pledging that the security forces were there to protect them and would help them carry their message "in a peaceful manner". He said officers were not carrying tear gas or weapons.

Such political demonstrations are relatively rare in Nigeria, where the vast majority of people get by on $2 a day or less and feel politics is a game played by multi-millionaires whose outcome has little effect on their daily lives.

Similar marches in recent months have passed peacefully.

Should Yar'Adua be formally declared too sick to govern, or resign or die, Jonathan would be sworn in as head of state and complete the unexpired presidential term, which runs to May next year, with a new vice president.

The demonstrators are also demanding electoral reforms to avoid the sort of chaos seen in the 2007 polls which brought Yar'Adua to power, a vote so marred by ballot-stuffing and intimidation that observers said it was not credible.

Reuters