We’ve heard a lot of rumors regarding the second generation Apple iPad now, or the iPad 2, and we have another to throw onto the pile. Last month, it was said that the next generation iPad would be getting GSM and CDMA radios. According to a more recent rumor, there will be three different types of iPads coming soon that feature a combination of Wi-Fi, UMTS and CDMA radios.
Dreaming up a CDMA-capable iPad is certainly feasible if we’re to believe that a Verizon iPhone is on the way. Verizon is already selling the Apple iPad bundled with its mobile hotspot and a data plan, so making a shift to CDMA iPads shouldn’t be much of an issue at all.
Shipment is said to begin during the latter half of January 2011, with a small volume of production starting this month if it hasn’t already. Numbers are said to be around 500,000 – 530,000 to start in January, with an even greater rate of production early in 2011.
Additionally, an anonymous source says that the iPad is also getting some glass treatments in order to keep with the Amazon Kindle. Apple is apparently strengthening the glass material and improving its anti-reflective capabilities. If there is anything more annoying than the bright screen when trying to read on the iPad, it’s the reflection of a nearby light or the sun.
Will the coming iPad have a mini-USB port? Or perhaps it will come with a carbon fiber back? Will it be thinner or smaller all around with a flat, iPod-touch-like back? Rumors seem to be really piling up now, and it’s hard to sift through what’s plausible, nonsense and plain common sense, but given Apple’s cycle of product releases we can expect to hear something about the new iPad soon.
[Via: Digitimes]