Hopefully, you were watching our live coverage of the iPad 2 launch live on the streets of Austin for the SXSW conference and festival. We couldn’t help but rip into it on the streets for our unboxing so check out our first streetside unboxing of the iPad 2.
The Apple iPad 2 is not necessarily a revolutionary leap beyond the original tablet but it does have enough new features to tempt many consumers. It features a dual-core A5 processor that promises to be twice as fast as the first tablet as well as graphics that have been improved up to nine times.
The iPad 2 comes in the minimalistic packaging you’d expect from an Apple product and right away you notice a difference, as this one actually comes in white. Once you get the iPad 2 out of the box, you immediately notice how much thinner and lighter it is than the original. It’s actually thinner than the iPhone 4 and you can now hold it comfortably with one hand.
The face of the iPad 2 also shows off the other major difference – the front-facing camera that can be used for video calls with the FaceTime standard. This will let you make video calls between the tablets, iPhone 4 units, iPod touch devices and compatible Mac computer.
The physical differences really shine on the iPad 2 when you hold it next to the original version – the latest one just looks sleeker and feels better to hold in your hand. To be fair, it’s not a quantum leap but it is a noticeable difference.
Is this going to be enough to compete against the likes of the Motorola Xoom, the BlackBerry PlayBook and the HP TouchPad? While the specs may not match some of the competitors, Apple’s design, marketing push and wealth of tablet-specific apps may be enough to help this device maintain the tablet crown for at least another year.
We’ll have much, much more on the iPad 2 but enjoy the streetside unboxing video below.