Second-generation iPad in production

SAN FRANCISCO:
Apple has started production of a thinner, more powerful version of its popular iPad tablet computers, according to unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

The second-generation iPad will have more memory and a front-facing camera for capabilities such as a Face Time video-conferencing feature on Apple iPhone 4 smartphones, according to the Journal.

Cupertino, California-based Apple said in its latest earnings release that it sold nearly 15 million iPads in the eight months after the tablet computers were introduced in April of last year.

The device has spawned countless new apps as well as digital versions of books, magazines and newspapers.

News Corp's Rupert Murdoch who is an enthusiastic fan of the iPad recently launched "The Daily," a digital newspaper created for the Apple device.

In the latest move in a drive to get consumers to pay for news online the 79-year-old News Corp. chairman said "New times demand new journalism" as he unveiled the hotly awaited publication in New York.

Murdoch said there will be no print version of The Daily and it will only be available on Apple's touchscreen tablet computer for at least this year.

Since the arrival of the iPad, competition in tablet computing has grown.

Google which is set to provide a strong challenge, recently showed off a Honeycomb version of its Android operating system that will debut on the upcoming Motorola Xoom tablet that won rave reviews at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.

"Honeycomb is tailored for the new generation of tablet-sized computers," Google mobile products director Hugo Barra said while demonstrating software features at the Internet titan's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

With the free, open-source operating system which is expected to quickly be built into an array of touchscreen tablets, Google is also intent on wooing app developers.

One of the most popular Apple apps, "Tap Tap Revenge" has been released on Android as Google announced the launch of an Android Market webstore where people can get work or play applications for devices running on the mobile operating software.

Disney's most successful mobile game, "Tap Tap" has been downloaded more than 50 million times.

- AFP/sf