iPad 2 rumors point to February or April

With the latest iOS for the iPad bringing the tablet up to speed, it also comes as no surprise that iPad 2 rumors have been spreading across the web as to the release date. According to Digitimes, their sources revealed that Foxconn’s plant in Shenzhen, China, has recently been notified that they will be shipping the iPad 2 within the next 100 days, with initial shipments to reach 400,000-600,000 units. Foxconn reportedly declined to comment when approached on this subject.

This means that the iPad 2 could ship by the end of February 2011. Apple wanted to start mass production in January, but they had some problems with the firmware which is currently still in testing.

The iPad 2 is likely to go the way of the newly launched iPod Touch 4th Gen and feature a front-facing camera (no doubt this will support its FaceTime video calling technology). Some rumours also suggest that Qualcomm will provide chips that allow the iPad 2 to run on both CDMA and GSM networks, making its reach even greater (the current 3G version is GSM only).

IN PICTURES: Apple's iCandy

Of course you could be thinking, will the iPad 2 have the iPhone 4’s Retina display technology? Sadly this may be too difficult to integrate on the larger 9.7” display, as the number of pixels per inch would be too much of a drain on the current crop of processors. Apple will no doubt wait for a more beefy solution before committing, however we could be wrong, but come next year we will find out.

Read more at Digitimes